Wolfsong
by Solar Light
Summary: Bella Swan falls in love with Edward Cullen. The only problem is, Bella Swan is a werewolf. Disclaimer: I do not own Twilight Stephenie Meyer does.
1. Midnight Meeting

"Bella! C'mon, get up."

"Mmmm?" I mumbled sleepily, yanking the covers over my head to try and drown out the intruding voice.

"We need to go," came the voice again. "Sam caught a suspicious scent on the southern edge of town. He wants us to come check it out."

I finally opened my eyes, as my curiosity had been triggered. Jacob was sitting on the side of my bed. An amused look crossed his face as I sat up.

"What's so funny?" I asked tiredly.

"Your hair," he snickered. "It looks like it's been electrocuted."

"I've been sleeping, idiot," I retorted irritably. "No one's hair looks perfect in bed."

"Except mine, of course," he teased, running a russet hand through his short hair. "Now come on, Sam wants us there ASAP."

Glancing at the clock, I complained, "It's one in the morning."

"Duty calls."

"Sam's the alpha—shouldn't he be able to check out the scent on his own?" I asked.

Jacob sighed, rolling his eyes. "You can sleep all you want in the morning. It's summer. But right now we need to go. Who knows what's out there?"

"The abominable snowman?" I suggested.

He chuckled. "Is the abominable snowman afraid of werewolves?"

"He should be," I answered. "We're pretty scary."

"And _I'm _going to get _really _scary if you don't hurry up and get out of bed," Jacob warned. I knew him well enough to know that he was mostly joking, but I still recognized the small truth in his words. Wanting to avoid his exploding into an oversized wolf in my bedroom, I finally swung my legs gracefully over the side of my bed to get out of it. One upside to changing into a giant dog was improved balance, and for a klutz like me, that was something that really came in handy.

Jacob led the way out, and I shut off the lights again and closed the door behind me. Charlie wouldn't suspect anything—it was past the time he usually came in to make sure I was sleeping. As long as I was back before dawn, I should be okay.

Once out in the crisp night air, my mind quickly awakened from its half-conscious state. I breathed in a lungful of air that smelled of a light rain, something that was very common in this tiny town of Forks, Washington. It was mostly dark, save for a veil of moonlight that spilled from the clouds overhead. Our eyesight, far better than any human's, allowed us to see a good distance in all directions.

"Let's go," Jacob said, shifting into wolf form. I copied him.

As wolves, we looked nearly as different as we did in human form. Jacob was an enormous, red-brown wolf, whereas I was a white wolf with brown eyes, the same chocolate shade as my human eyes, slightly smaller than Jacob. Each of us had amazing speed, though, becoming little more than blurs when we were at full hilt.

Not a moment after I'd transformed, I could feel the familiar probe of Jacob's thoughts in my mind. All werewolves could read each other's minds in wolf form, and I still hadn't decided whether I would ever get used to that. I admit, it did come in handy, as we were unable to actually speak to each other in wolf form.

Jacob bounded off, his powerful legs carrying him a far distance in a short amount of time. I raced to catch up, and soon we were speeding side by side through a dense grove of trees. Even on a cloudy night like this, it was best to stay out of sight. No one had suspected us yet, but Sam was always warning us about it.

In a matter of minutes, Jacob and I slowed to a halt in an open plain, where we met up with three others—Sam, the alpha, and Jared and Embry. Sam was easily the largest of the group, and radiated a calm yet assertive energy that none of us ever dared to challenge. We all respected and liked him, and would have chosen none other than him to be our alpha.

_The scent has gotten stronger_, he informed us through thought. _There are vampires around, no doubt. But how many, I can't say_.

The reaction was quick, and expected. Jared and Embry's massive paws shifted uneasily. A growl slid from Jacob's throat. I felt the fur on the back of my neck bristle instinctively. Vampires were our mortal enemy, and it was our duty to protect humans from them.

Sam calmed us with his thoughts, and soon we were listening again. _I don't want us to split up, but if we're going to find the vampires soon, we'll have to. Jared, you go with Embry. And Jacob, you go with Bella_.

_What about you? _Jared immediately argued.

_You're not going alone_, I agreed. _What if the vampires find you before you find them?_

_We'll cover more ground_, he insisted, and with such authority that none of us argued the point further. Still, I couldn't stay the nervousness I felt of Sam going off on his own. I glanced sideways at Jacob, whose wolf eyes were looking just as troubled as I felt. Sam recognized our fear, and said, _I'll be fine. If I feel that I can't handle whatever I come across, I'll retreat and find the rest of you._

We started to split up into our respective groups, but Sam reminded us, _Don't immediately start trouble. Find out why the vampires are here, and what they want_.

At this, Embry let out a peculiar snort that sounded like a half-growl. _What do you think they want, Sam? Just to drop by? All vampires want the same thing._

I shuddered involuntarily, and Jacob moved closer to my side. We knew what vampires wanted, and all of us were determined to stop them.

Sam turned his wise and penetrating gaze on Embry, who immediately lowered his head submissively. _Find out what they want_, Sam repeated firmly. _If they mean harm, kill them. If not_...

He didn't finish this last thought, and we were left to split up. Still numb with fear for Sam, I didn't move, and Jacob had to nudge me in the side. Shaking my head slightly, I trotted to his side and we were off, once again running through the night.

……………………………………

Well, obviously I've changed a few things. I don't know if there is such a thing as a female werewolf, but now there is! And in case any of you were wondering, the werewolves don't lose their clothes when they explode. I'm too lazy to have to deal with any clothes issues, so I just made it that they always have their clothes when they transform.

If you leave a summary, PLEASE MAKE IT HELPFUL! Comments such as "kool update soon" really get old, and they don't help me at all. If you liked the story, please tell me why. If you didn't like it, explain things that I could improve on. I will love you forever.


	2. Run with Me

As we ran through the night, the crisp air whipping through our streamlined bodies, a sudden thought occurred to me. _Where's Paul?_

_He's still sick_, came Jacob's reply. _It must have been a pretty strong illness to affect a werewolf that badly._

What he said was true—werewolves tended to heal much faster than normal humans. Jacob had showed me this the very first time I discovered that I was a werewolf. He thought it would be amusing to purposely slice himself with a knife, when he knew I hated blood. I had instinctively screeched when he dragged the blade across his skin, and then went into silent shock as the cut healed before my very eyes, as though an invisible hand were sewing the skin back together. The day after that, I'd given him the silent treatment, and he'd realized his mistake. He promised never to do it again.

I was brought back to the present by Jacob's wolfish chuckle as he ran at my side. I glanced sideways at him; he appeared to be trying very hard to keep a straight face. I glared at him.

_Well, it was funny to see your reaction, _he said, and even his thoughts sounded amused. _It was only a little blood…_

_You called that a little blood? _I said skeptically. _More like a big pool of blood, if you ask me_.

_Fine, fine, _he said, still trying not to laugh. However, his amused expression vanished as suddenly as a light bulb going out. He froze on the spot and, with my having not expected this, I ended up skidding to a halt several seconds later, so I had to turn around and go back to join him.

_What's wrong?_

Jacob lifted his massive head, eyes flashing in the darkness. _Leeches_, he spat, and took off again. _Stay close to me_.

I was both nervous and excited. I'd never actually seen a vampire before, only heard of them from the rest of the pack. From what they told me, vampires were supposed to be very pale, smell awful, and some of them moved as fast as a werewolf. I hoped that wasn't true.

_Jacob, _I said worriedly. He slowed to a walk and I hurried to catch up with him. _What if there are more than two of them?_

By the look of his face, I knew he'd already considered this possibility. Normally, Jacob would have gone to the vampires without any thought of his own life, only wanting to help the pack. But now that I was with him, he was more concerned for my safety, and therefore hesitant to face the vampires. I saw his eyes flash again, toward the direction of where the vampires must be.

_Keep a fair distance behind me, _he said. _When I see them, I'll signal you if I think it's safe to come. If not, you go back and find the others._

_What about you? _I answered frantically.

_Don't worry about me. Sam and the others need to know, and I know you'll be safe if you go back to find them instead of facing the leeches._

An angry growl rippled from my chest and out my wrinkled muzzle. _I'm not letting you go there alone!_

_Bella, _he pleaded. I could see his expression even in the darkness: he was worried about _me_, not about himself. _Please just do this for me._

_Jake, I don't know. I'll follow you until we find the vampires._

He hesitated.

_Fine, I'll go if you tell me to, _I said to him, although I wasn't sure I could keep that promise. I quickly blocked that thought from my mind, so Jacob couldn't read it.

Thankfully, he didn't, and he nodded. With one powerful leap, he was off again, and I gave him a few seconds' head start before I followed.


	3. Confrontation

It was not long before I too picked up a scent that definitely didn't belong this close to Forks. It had to be the vampires. I squinted into the night, locating Jacob a few miles ahead, determination being the only thing that pushed him on. Moments later he stopped, and I copied him.

_Keep hidden_.

Jacob's thoughts were somewhat hard to receive, what with the distance between us, but I got the message. I found a grove of evergreens nearby, and I crouched behind them, peering through the branches.

There was a wide valley below where I lay hidden, most of it concealed by the night's shadows. One patch, however, was bathed in moonlight, and in that light area I saw, to my horror, a band of what were unmistakably vampires, all gathered in a tight circle. I counted one, two, three, four, five, six, seven. And I saw Jacob approaching them, still in wolf form.

_JACOB! _I screamed out with my mind, and not even the distance between us could keep him from hearing me.

_Bella, run! _he commanded. _There are seven of them. They haven't seen me yet, but they know I'm here. Run, before they smell you too._

Suddenly, his thoughts were blocked from me, and I plunged from the cover of the trees to get a better view. Though I couldn't see the vampires' faces, I could tell that their heads had whipped up and they spread out. To my disgust, it was then that I saw a heap of some motionless creature on the ground where they had been gathered.

Frantically I tried to contact Jacob, but he had formed a barrier from all outside contact. Clearly, he thought I'd already run off.

The vampires were approaching Jacob fast. There was no way I could get to Sam or anyone else in time to save Jacob. Not thinking twice, I plunged down the hillside, a blur of white. Within moments I was only a short distance from Jacob and the vampires. The latter froze, all staring at me, and finally Jacob slowly turned his head to look at me as well. I still couldn't read his thoughts, but I knew he was pleading to me with his expression. I wouldn't go back now. My gaze shifted slowly to the vampires.

Seven pairs of black eyes stared back at me. I could tell that the stories I'd heard were not far off. All of them had very pale skin that seemed to faintly glisten in the moonlight. They had purple, bruise-like shadows under their eyes, giving them the appearance of many sleepless nights. Did they sleep in coffins?

Aside from these common features, each vampire looked very different. The tallest one appeared to be the leader of the coven. A female lingered next to him, the roundest of the party, but not round enough to be considered plump. Both of them had caramel hair. There were three more males—one tall, muscular, and black-haired, another leaner, with blonde hair, and the third also lean, with a strange shade of red-brown hair. Beside these three were two other females, as different from each other as the boys. One was tall and blonde, the other was as short as I'd ever seen anyone, with dark, spiky hair.

It was none of these alien features that disturbed me most, nor the smell (which was unpleasant, but not unbearable), but it was the fact that they were _all _insanely beautiful, enough to make any magazine model jealous. I hadn't been prepared for their stunning appearances. Glancing sideways at Jacob, I could tell that these vampires could have been ancient Greek gods and goddesses, and he wouldn't have cared. His muzzle was wrinkled in disgust and warning, as if daring the vampires to try and come near me.

Suddenly, a shiver raked Jacob's body, and he transformed smoothly from wolf to human, the deadly glare never leaving his face.

"He wants to know why we're here."

Everyone jumped and looked toward the speaker, who happened to be the vampire with the reddish-brown hair.

"Edward," said the tallest vampire warningly, and the vampire who had first spoken quieted instantly.

Jacob's voice came out in a snarl. "You filthy—"

With a warning growl, I also shifted back into a human. Our shifting seemed to unnerve the vampires, but I noticed a look of awe on the bronze-haired vampire's face, the one called Edward. As I looked closer, I saw not only admiration, but frustration as well. I was puzzled at his expression, but quickly threw it to the back of my mind as my attention was drawn back to Jacob, who had a look of murder in his eyes. Tentatively, I stepped toward him.

"He's a mind-reader," Jacob hissed, his eyes narrowing in fury. My reply was frozen in my throat. There were stories of vampires who had extra talents, but I never considered them to be true.

"We mean no harm," said the leader quickly, and I noticed that he said they meant no harm, as opposed to being harmless. No vampire was harmless.

Jacob snorted in response, and several of the other vampires scowled at him. The female with the light brown hair, however, looked worried. I guessed she was the leader's mate.

"I'll only believe that when you get away from this town," Jacob snarled.

"Jake," I said softly, and his eyes flashed briefly to meet mine before going back to the vampires.

"We try to be…civil," said the worried-looking female. "We don't hunt humans."

Jacob rolled his eyes. "What do you hunt, then?"

"Animals," said the burly black-haired male. He was looking at Jacob with utmost distaste.

"Well, would you look at that, Bella?" Jacob said to me, smirking. "We've run into a coven of _vegetarian _vampires."

At that moment, all of us froze as we heard the sound of paws behind us. I turned to see three wolves—Sam, Jared and Embry, approaching us at a steady gait. They halted when they reached us and, a split second later, morphed into their human forms.

Now most of the vampires looked nervous. Sam quickly assessed the situation. We were still outnumbered by two, and we didn't know how strong these vampires were.

"It's okay, Sam, they don't hunt people," Jacob sarcastically informed our alpha.

I heard a growl, and realized it wasn't from any of us. Looking toward the vampire coven, I saw that the burly vampire had his snow-white teeth bared, growling softly but audibly. Then something strange happened. The blonde vampire directed his gaze at his growling companion, and suddenly the latter quieted and visibly relaxed.

Obviously, mind-reading was not the only power among these vampires.

I looked at Sam, who was not looking at the vampires, but at something behind them. "What is that?" he asked the leader of the coven warily, indicating the bloody heap that they'd been feasting upon. I'd completely forgotten about it until now.

"It's not a human," the leader responded. "It's a buck."

Quick as lightening, Embry vanished from view, moving so fast toward the dead creature that the vampires only just had time to tense, before he halted again, bending over the corpse to examine it.

"It's a buck," he confirmed with a disgusted look, then raced to rejoin our party. We all relaxed when he was back at our side.

"So, you do hunt animals," Sam said. "And they satisfy you?"

The leader shook his head. "Animal blood suffices, but I won't deny that we prefer human blood." At this, Jared made a disgusted sound that sounded halfway between a gag and a cough. The leader continued quickly, "But it is against our morals to drink human blood. We have made mistakes in the past. But we try to make up for them."

Jared blurted out, "You're still dangerous. Why should we trust you? As far as I'm concerned, Forks is better off without a bunch of bloodsuckers swarming all over the place."

Sam was glaring at Jared, but he didn't seem to notice. At Jared's words, the leader finally betrayed a hint of anger.

"You judge us because of what we are," he said. "You accuse us of crimes we don't willingly commit, and we very rarely commit them."

"All the same," Sam interrupted in a voice of calm authority, "you _are _dangerous. You are a risk to Forks."

"Yes," replied the leader, nodding his head. "But as I recall, the werewolves around here do not live in Forks, but in La Push. Is that correct?"

"I live in Forks."

I couldn't help it—the words just tumbled out. All eyes turned to me. There was a short silence, before—

"These leeches will _not _live in Forks while you're there, Bella," Jacob said to me, with such menace that I wouldn't have been surprised if the vampires recoiled.

The leader spoke again. "We will live on the edge of Forks. As far away from—Bella—as you would like us to."

It was clear that Jacob was ready to retort, but Sam cut him off. "_If _you lived away from other people, and _if _you agreed not to harm any of the humans—"

"You can't seriously be considering this," Jared argued.

Ignoring Jared, Sam finished, "Then you could stay."

He waited intently for an answer.

"Agreed," said the leader.

The mouths of Jared, Embry, and Jacob all fell open simultaneously, but they could tell from the look on Sam's face that they were not to argue. The leader of the vampire coven was giving his companions an equal expression, and none of them objected either.

"Let's go," Sam ordered, and within seconds he was in wolf form, bounding away. With a few last glares at the vampires, Jared, Embry and Jacob also changed shape and followed their alpha. I stared at the vampires, who were looking at me with a mixture of expressions: some calm, some curious, others wary. The one I noticed most, however, was the one called Edward, who had regained that frustrated, yet admiring, look.

_Bella, come on! _Jacob commanded.

I transformed and disappeared.


	4. A Ride Through the Woods

Even through thought, I could feel the fumes of Jared and Embry's anger. Jacob was also angry, but he seemed determined to attempt calmness for me.

_What sort of insane force of nature has twisted your mind? _Jared finally asked Sam, to which Embry readily agreed.

_Starting a fight now would be a death sentence for one or more of us, _Sam answered firmly. _We attack only if they bite a human._

_Which means we'll be attacking them by tomorrow, _Embry put in.

Without warning, Sam halted. In attempt to stop in front of him, the others went tumbling over their enormous paws, ending up in a tangle of fur. I, of course, had stumbled trying to stop as well. The situation would have been very funny had it not been for Sam—he had his lips pulled back, revealing the fangs behind them.

_You are _not _to provoke them, _he growled, once the boys had untangled themselves. _And the consequences will be severe for any of you that do._

Sometimes, a werewolf knew when his or her alpha meant business—and this was one of those times. Sam's tawny eyes were hard; his stance was stiff with authority and the fur on his back was bristled. We were dead silent.

Seeing that we were not going to challenge him, Sam turned, tensing his hind legs, and raced off again. Jared and Embry exchanged glances, and I could hear a river of worried thoughts radiating from their brains. They followed Sam, then, and Jacob and I were left alone.

_Bella_.

I knew he was serious now.

_Jacob, I'll be fine, _I told him, but he was unconvinced.

_Out of all of us, you will live the closest to those leeches. I don't care what they say. They're dangerous. And we don't know what else they're capable of. If they ever threaten you…_

I sighed, which came out sounding something like a soft growl. _I'll let you know._

He nodded, seeming satisfied.

I took off, a little slower than the hard running we'd been doing, and Jacob was happy to keep at my pace. After all that had happened, it felt nice just to feel the cool night air, and smell the rain. Yes, even I, Bella Swan, was getting used to the almost-daily showers of rain.

I didn't remember falling asleep, only that when I was awakened by Charlie at noon, all I wanted to do was go _back _to sleep. Noticing the faint circles under my eyes, he asked, "You haven't been sleeping too well, have you, kiddo?"

I shrugged, yawning. "How was fishing?"

"Good, they're biting." He smiled, then thought for a minute. "You know, we could do something today. Just you and me. If you want."

Yep, that was Charlie. He was constantly worrying that he left me to myself way too often, but I liked it that way. Besides, I was hardly ever alone—I was usually with Jacob or one of the others, and when we weren't running all over creation, we were inside, discussing our next meeting.

"Thanks, Char—Dad, but I think I'll stay home today and get some laundry finished." I had to be careful not to call him Charlie, which I was in the habit of doing. But my mother didn't want me calling him that to his face.

"Okay. I'll probably be watching the game."

He left me to get dressed, which I finally did after several more minutes of sitting in bed, contemplating. Of course, the first place my mind wandered was the vampire coven we'd met last night. I felt guilty for thinking how beautiful they all were, especially the bronze-haired boy. I mentally slapped myself every time my mind strayed in that direction. We were werewolves, sworn to protect humans from monsters like them. I could not, would not, associate myself with those bloodsuckers.

I dressed in a simple tank top and shorts that day, ready for any work I might get done around the house. While Charlie flipped through T.V channels, fixed myself a quick sandwich and sat down with him, not really paying attention to what we were watching. Not long after I'd finished my simple lunch, the doorbell rang. Already knowing who it would be, I went to answer it.

"Hey, Jake."

"Hey, Bells," he said, grinning. "Paul's feeling better today. He wants to go for a run, let off all that energy he got while he was sick. I didn't feel like going with him, so I came to ask you if you wanted to go biking."

I considered that briefly, and decided I would go, just for something to do.

"Sure, let me go tell Charlie," I said. "Come on in."

While Jacob waited for me, I went to tell Charlie where I was going. He nodded absently, most of his attention focused on the television. What was so amazing about sports for him, I didn't think I would ever find out.

I grabbed my bike from the garage. Jacob had always wanted to teach me how to ride a motorcycle, but Charlie simply refused to let me near one of those "dangerous things." So, we settled on regular bicycles instead.

Jacob and I rode out of the neighborhood and headed for a trail through the woods on the edge of town. I thought about when I'd been human, and I would have tired out easily before now. It felt good to be able to ride so long without having to stop every five minutes.

The sky was cloudy, as usual. When we reached the edge of the woods, a light rain had begun to fall.

"Yuck," I said.

"There's no _way _we're turning back now," Jacob said, squinting up at the sky. "C'mon, it'll be drier under the trees."

He pedaled off again, and I followed, careful to avoid the mud puddles that had gathered from previous rains. I wondered if Forks had ever had dry ground.

Jacob was right, though—it was drier once we got under some leafy cover. He wheeled over some fallen trees, enjoying the ride. I stayed on a much straighter path, knowing that if I even tried to perform Jacob's stunts, I'd end up on my face. Jacob laughed at my hesitation, but ceased abruptly.

"Jake…?"

He hopped lightly off his bike, looking wildly around, sniffing the air. My heart sank as I realized the smell too.

I looked back to try and calm Jacob down, but he was already shaking violently. "Jake!" I screamed at him. He turned to me with wild, glazed eyes. He was already transforming.

The trees were far too dense for him to morph here. Hoping he would listen to reason, I shouted at him to run until he found a more open spot. He nodded, still trembling uncontrollably, and disappeared.

I got off my bike and sank to the ground, not caring if my clothes got wet. I looked at my hands. They were trembling. I took a few deep, calming breaths, but stopped breathing altogether when I heard a silky voice.

"It appears that your friend has some anger problems."

My head whipped up to the branches above me. Smiling wryly, his teeth flashing even in the shade, was the bronze-haired vampire.

"What do you want?" I snapped. Jacob was sure to return any moment now.

"So, you're Bella?" he asked, speaking in a tone as if we were discussing the weather.

I narrowed my eyes at him. "You'd better leave. Jacob—"

"Jacob is currently trying to cope with his temper," he said slyly.

I suddenly remembered that he could read minds, and with a jolt of fear, I wondered how far that ability extended. What if he could _control _minds?

"What are you thinking?" he asked me, still smiling.

Did he think this was a joke?

"Why don't you tell me?" I challenged.

At this he frowned slightly, and said, "I can't."

"Oh, are your powers defective right now?" I mocked. "Just leave us alone. We were _trying _to enjoy a ride through the woods."

"Ah, but these woods aren't in Forks, so I'm well within my rights to come here as I please."

I opened my mouth to argue, but couldn't think of anything to say. His grin had reappeared.

Suddenly, without warning, he sprang lightly from the branch, landing on his feet with the grace of a cat. I stumbled backward, not eager to have him so close. His smell was wafting toward me; it didn't smell _bad_, just strange.

"I'm warning you, bloodsucker—"

"As you heard from Carlisle last night, my name is Edward, not 'bloodsucker.'" he retorted. "It's Edward Cullen, to be exact."

I rolled my eyes. "Well, Edward Cullen, if you don't mind, I'd rather not be in your company." And I began to turn on my heel, but froze when a cool hand stopped me. I recoiled from his touch, so unlike the warmth of my own kin.

"DON'T TOUCH HER!" a voice roared, and Jacob was back, in his human form. He was shaking again, though. Obviously, whatever control he had gained alone, he was not capable of holding it in Edward's presence.

Edward took a step back, now looking slightly nervous with Jacob's return. His eyes flashed to me and back to Jacob, who looked ready to explode again.

"Jacob! Control yourself!" called another voice, and moments later Sam appeared. I breathed a sigh of relief. Jacob wouldn't start a fight while Sam was there.

Sucking in a deep breath, Jacob attempted to ease his shaking muscles. Once he was considerably calmer, I turned to look at Edward, but he had gone. Puzzled, I turned back to Sam and Jacob.

"The filthy, stinking leech actually had the nerve to touch her," Jacob snarled. "And then the coward ran off!"

"Jacob, you _must _control yourself," Sam asserted. "If you don't, we could start a war. You don't understand how vital it is to keep the peace."

In a voice of determined calm, Jacob answered, "How am I supposed to keep the peace with them popping up everywhere like that?"

"Jake," I said in a small voice. "He didn't threaten me. Honest."

Jacob exhaled heavily, and Sam seemed to think he was alright. Deciding to leave us alone, Sam transformed and vanished, leaving Jacob simmering with repressed anger and me, quiet as a mouse.

Jacob reached up and snapped the branch where Edward had been sitting, easily as if it were a rubber band. I stepped back.

"I'm okay," he said. "Just…really frustrated. Why can't they just leave?"

"They won't be here forever, Jake," I reminded him. "They'll _have _to leave eventually, one way or another."

He nodded. "We should probably head back."

I couldn't help but laugh. "Some bike ride that was."

And Jacob grinned too, and I knew he was pretty much back to his old self.


	5. Problem

"You're joking."

"How could they hire him?"

"_Why _would they hire him?"

I entered one of the bedrooms of Jacob's house, hearing a rush of questions. Sam was sitting on the edge of Jacob's bed. Jared and Embry were sitting side by side, looking at each other skeptically. Paul was reclined in Jacob's desk chair, his fists thrown against his temples in frustration. Jacob himself was leaning against the wall, his arms folded, a scowl on his face.

"Hey, Bella," Paul greeted halfheartedly. I shut the door. Jacob's father, Billy, wasn't home at the moment, but we still couldn't risk anyone hearing this.

"What's wrong?" I asked immediately, going to Jacob's side.

"Apparently, the leader of our new vampire coven has been hired to work at the hospital," Sam answered.

"Carlisle?" I gasped.

Everyone except Sam snickered. "The bloodsucker has a _name_?" jeered Paul.

"Yeah, well…" I said, feeling the heat rush to my face as it so often did. "When Jake and me were in the forest…"

"Yeah, we heard about that," Embry said, recovering from his laughter. "So what else did the leech tell you?"

I thought a minute. "Their last name is Cullen. And…" I hesitated, but Sam urged me to go on. "Edward—the one with the reddish-brown hair, I mean—said he couldn't read my mind."

They were all very quiet, staring at me. I quickly went on, "I don't know how. I don't know if he was even telling the truth."

"But if he _was_," Jared mused aloud, "then you could be our weapon, Bella! Maybe none of their powers work on you!"

"Hey, yeah," Embry agreed. "She could be a spy or something. Maybe she can kill them!"

This was getting out of hand. I opened my mouth to argue, but Jacob did it for me. "There's no way Bella's going anywhere near them!" he snarled, quickly silencing Jared and Embry.

"Jacob's right," Sam agreed. "We won't send anyone near them without help. And there's no point in having a _spy_, Embry. The vampires haven't done anything wrong."

"Yet," muttered Paul.

"You guys," I said, feeling extremely self-conscious, "I'm not special or anything, really. I'm a normal person…well, as normal as a werewolf can be."

Jared and Embry were looking highly disappointed, but Sam abruptly returned to our original topic.

"So, it's Dr. Cullen now," he said. "I don't understand how he can be a doctor, when he is what he is. It might be a scheme, though, and Bella is the only one who lives in Forks. I want you to keep a close eye on the situation," he said, directing the last sentence at me. I nodded.

"Be careful, Bella," Jacob warned in a low voice, and for a moment I'd forgotten that he was next to me.

The tension never loosened that day. Even Jared and Embry were sullen most of the time, not their usual joking selves. As evening wore on, we were ushered from Sam's house by his beautiful fiancée, Emily.

Jared, Embry and Paul headed off in one direction, and Jacob and I in another. We were both very quiet, still mulling over the information we'd received today. If Dr. Cullen's working at the hospital _was _all part of a plan that would lead up to an eventual killing spree, we'd have to do something. But the trouble was, we didn't have any proof that that was his plan. We'd never before heard of vegetarian vampires, much less vampires that went off and became hospital employees. It just didn't make sense.

As Jacob and I parted ways at his house, I said goodbye to him, shifted into wolf form, and set off. It was probably safer to go as a human, so I wouldn't risk being seen, but running as a wolf was much faster. While I ran, I moved onto other contemplations.

As far as I knew, Edward could read minds. I still didn't know if he was being serious when he told me he _couldn't _read my mind. It certainly didn't add up. What was so special about me? Apart from morphing into a giant dog, I was perfectly normal. But what if this Edward _could _read my mind, and he was simply trying to trick me? And what about the others? As far as we knew, there could be more vampires in their family. Or they could have an alliance with vampires in another place.

I slowed down to a walk as my mind plunged further and further into a pool of confusing thoughts. I remembered back to the night we had first come in contact with the Cullens. I remembered their beautiful faces. For the love of God, _why _did they have to be so stunning? And how old were they, anyway? What about the blonde-haired one, who had cured his companion's fury just by looking at him? What other powers did they have?

A branch cracked somewhere nearby, causing me to jump. My very first thought was _vampire_, but I knew a vampire would be much quieter. _It's just a rabbit or something, _I tried to reassure myself.

But as the sun finally disappeared behind the horizon, throwing the world into shadow, I became nervous and broke into a run, not stopping until I had reached the safety of my front door.


	6. Author's Note

I feel the need to vent. If you don't like this author's note, please ignore it and move on with your life.

For the love of God, people, if you're going to take the time to review, please leave a HELPFUL review! If you liked my story, great, but saying "good story plz update soon" does not help me or anyone else. In fact, it's just annoying. I don't update according to someone else's desire for me to update. In other words, if you say "update soon", it won't make any difference because I update according to MY schedule.

It's not just my story that I'm seeing these, obviously, but it's a lot of stories. It just kind of ticks me off. If you've already left a review like that, don't apologize, just please avoid doing it in the future. It really doesn't help anyone.

Now, my venting is over.

As for the story, it's summertime right now, which means I'll probably be updating a lot. I have some pretty decent plot ideas and twists for future chapters. If some chapters seem boring, please bear with me. Not all chapters can be filled with exciting angst and drama. Some have to be more mellow!


	7. Riverside

"_Sam, where are you?"_

"_Bella?"_

"_Jake, go back!"_

"_No, I'm not leaving you here!"_

_Jacob screams and clutches his head. Falling to the ground, he begins to shake violently. I try to help him. Too late—he explodes into a wolf._

_Sam plunges from the trees, shirtless, cuts all over his body. "Bella, run!" he cries. Jacob stands and growls toward the trees. I whip my head around, and a split second later, the Cullens emerge from the dense shade, their red gazes fixed on Jacob. Blood stains their clothes._

"_JACOB, NO!" I scream, but no sound comes out. Jacob plunges toward the Cullens, teeth bared, and Carlisle steps out and seizes him around the neck. Jacob yelps as he is thrown into a tree, cracking it in half._

_I try to morph, but my abilities have vanished. Sam has gone._

_Jacob tries to get up, but Edward steps forth and seizes his fur again. I squeeze my eyes shut…I hear a ripping sound. When I look again, blood is pouring down the wolf's neck and chest._

"_JAKE!" I cry tearlessly. I stumble forward to help him, but Edward easily holds me back._

"_Come with us," he tells me in a silky voice._

_I try to resist, but he's dragging me back…Jacob is dying…_

"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!"

My eyes snapped open, adjusting to the darkness of my bedroom. My body was drenched in icy sweat; my muscles were painfully stiff. Taking deep breaths, I gradually relaxed them, and then threw the covers off myself, despite the fact that I was shivering. Carefully, I swung my legs over the bed and placed my feet on the cool wood of the floor.

_Dream…just a dream, _I chanted to myself, but that didn't change how real it had seemed.

I needed to see Jake, _now_. I glanced at the clock—five in the morning. It would be easy to run to his house and be back again before Charlie ever woke. Then, with a jolt, I wondered why Charlie hadn't heard me scream. Or had he?

Quietly as possible, I tiptoed out of my room and to Charlie's, where I heard him snoring steadily.

Still shivering slightly, I grabbed my jacket and went outside. For once, the sky overhead was starry, and I might have stopped to appreciate it had I not felt so urgent. In human form I ran to the nearest woods I could find, and transformed there. When I reached open ground again, I quickly scanned the night for any cars, then flashed from the trees, a white blur through the night.

The distance between Forks and La Push was not long, but it was an open plain with very little tree cover, which unnerved me. I ran harder, my paws barely touching the ground.

At a small river, I stopped and lowered my head for a drink. As the cool water slid down my throat, my thinking became more rational.

What would it look like to Jacob if I showed up in the dead of night, covered in sweat, and shaking uncontrollably? What would I tell him? _"Sorry to bother you, Jake, but I had a nightmare and I decided to come here." _And then what? At the worst, he would panic about my dream and gather Sam and the others, and I would cause more uproar than necessary.

As my tongue lapped up the last of the water that I wanted, I noticed a movement across the surface over to my left. Shifting my eyes slightly, I saw someone's reflection in the water.

I yelped and jumped back, my hackles rising. There he was, in the middle of the night, his pale skin brighter than the moon, bronze hair fluttering in the slight breeze. Edward didn't have his usual sly smile in place; instead, he was looking pensive, and…sympathetic?

Instead of shifting, I continued to move back, growling at him.

"I swear I won't hurt you."

Like I was supposed to believe that?

Now he looked pleading. I didn't think I'd ever met someone whose emotions changed quite so quickly as his. He started to step forward, but drew back again as I tensed, ready to attack if necessary.

"Bella, please, just listen to me."

I shook my head, now frozen in place. I repressed a shiver as I stared into his gold eyes. Hadn't they been black just a few days before? And how come he wasn't sleeping? What did I really know about these vampires?

Edward sighed and sat down on the opposite side of the river. I knew better than to take this as a safe action—vampires could shift from mellow to rage as quickly as lightening flashes in a storm. I started to turn away, but he called for me to wait.

Anger rose inside me like an unquenchable fire. I turned on the spot and transformed. The human that emerged was nothing like my usual self—she was shaking from head to toe, furious.

My anger made him recoil. "Do you have _any _idea what you are?" I snarled at him. When he didn't answer, I went on, "I'm a werewolf, see? That means that I don't mingle with _your _kind. So you can tell your bloodsucker family to stay away from mine, and you would do well to do the same."

His eyes narrowed. "Are you afraid? Is that it?"

"Ha! _You're _the one who ran away from the last scene," I scoffed. "And you're calling _me _the coward?"

"I left because I…"

"Go ahead."

"No. Obviously you don't want to talk to me, and you're not willing to listen to reason."

"What do you _want_?" I snapped in frustration.

"I want you to listen!" he said, just as angrily. "Your kind is so blind to ours. You haven't the faintest idea of what we put ourselves through to keep humans safe."

My temper was reaching boiling point. I felt myself shaking, and I knew that if I didn't keep my emotions in check, I would simply explode into a wolf again, and probably end up attacking him.

With a voice of determined calm, I said, "You don't know what _we _go through. Our job is to keep people safe from…from monsters like you."

He was shaking too. "You…"

But apparently, insults were not enough. His eyes seemed to be turning slowly black with rage. He moved forward, and I stumbled back, knowing he could, _would_, attack.

Something in my eyes, perhaps fear, caused him to stop. His anger appeared to subside, and he sank to his knees, his fists against his temples. I leaned against a tree for support and tried to ease my trembling muscles.

"You don't know," he whispered, too low for human ears. "You don't understand. But I want you to."

"Understand _what_?"

He looked up, and my breath caught in my throat. He looked like some sort of god, his beauty radiating through his flawless features, his onyx gaze fixed on me. I could read determination all over his face, determination for me to understand, but what I was supposed to understand, I still didn't know.

"We suffer," he said, as quietly as before. He paused, regaining his self-control, but he didn't move from his kneeling position. I urged him to continue

"Vampires are dangerous," he said. "All of us are. That will never change. But we _try_, Bella, we try. For the most part, we are able to fit into normal society, acting as the humans do. We resist what we want most. Their blood is our only desire. Yes, animal blood will do. But it's not what we _want_. Every day, in the presence of the humans, we are faced with overwhelming temptation. We try, and fail sometimes. Other times, we succeed in overcoming what we are, what our instincts tell us to be. You must believe me. My family is not evil. Carlisle, especially. You have no idea of the effort he has put into keeping our family together, and working with us so that humans will be relatively safe in our presence."

He took a deep, ragged breath. I felt tears sting my eyes.

"What about the rest of your family?" I asked quietly.

"Esme, who is the closest to a mother I ever remember having, doesn't usually have a problem with it. Neither does Alice, nor Rosalie, my two sisters. Emmett is, in general, fun-loving and can cope well. But my other brother, Jasper…the blonde one, you remember?"

And I recalled that first night, the one called Jasper, who had silenced his brother's fury with just a glance. "Is he special, too?" I asked. "I mean, with powers?"

He took another deep breath. "When one becomes a vampire," he said slowly, "their features and personalities are enhanced. For Carlisle and Esme, it was their compassion. For Emmett, it was strength. Rosalie's beauty was enhanced. Alice has been given the ability to see the future. Jasper senses and manipulates emotion. And…well, you already know about me."

We'd reached the part I was most curious about. "Is it true you can't read my mind?"

A defeated look crossed his expression. "It's true."

"Why not?"

He sighed. "I don't know. I suppose you just have a…a closed mind. Whenever I try, I…there's a barrier, if that's what you'd call it, around your mind. I try to penetrate it, but it's too strong."

Quite in contrast to the calmness I'd been feeling, my heart leapt nervously when he suddenly waded into the water and crossed over to my side. I flattened against the tree, but relaxed, for some reason, when he promised he wouldn't hurt me. Why should I have believed him?

"We try, Bella," he whispered again, sounding so weak that it pulled at my heart.

"Why, though?" I asked him. "Why do you even bother trying?"

Again, that fierce black gaze met my brown one. "Because…" he whispered, his face mere inches away from mine, "who wants to be a monster?"

Suddenly, the sky's cool gray color was split by rays of warm light, and I realized that it was dawn. "Charlie!" I gasped out, moving swiftly away from Edward. His eyes widened as he watched me transform.

"Bella, wait!" he pleaded, but in one graceful leap I was headed back toward Forks.


	8. Disagreement

I had barely gotten home and back into bed when Charlie opened my door to check that I was asleep. I breathed slowly and evenly, with the covers over my head, so Charlie couldn't see the flush across my face from running. At last I breathed a sigh of relief when he shut the door.

Removing the covers, I sat up and thought about what had just happened. I thought about the Cullens, and tried to summon the fury to hate them, but nothing came. After what Edward had told me, all I could feel was pity for them. They really _did _try. Especially Carlisle—I pondered what he must have possibly gone through trying to keep his family in order, and watch out for all of them.

How would I face the others with this mindset? Should I tell them about our meeting, or not?

"Why does my life have to be so difficult?" I asked no one in particular. Knowing that trying to sleep now would be futile, I waited until I heard Charlie's cruiser pull out of the driveway before I went downstairs to get something to eat.

I was so jumpy that I nearly dropped my cereal when the phone rang. "Hello?" I said into the receiver.

"Bella."

"Jake, I need to talk to you."

He sighed. "Can it wait? Sam wants us to run the south side of town."

"No," I said. "This is urgent. Please? I need you to come over."

Apparently he heard that very urgency in my voice, because he said, "I'll be right over," and hung up the phone. While I waited for his arrival, I paced anxiously, completely forgetting my cereal. How would I tell him? Why was I even telling him? Edward hadn't threatened me once last night, and so I wasn't really _obligated _to tell anyone, was I?

I jumped again when the doorbell rang, and went to answer it. Jacob had a worried look on his face. "Are you okay, Bells? You look shaken."

"Yeah…fine," I lied. "Come in."

He sat down on my father's shabby couch, waiting expectantly. I took a deep breath, not sure how to begin. "Last night…I had a—an encounter with one of the Cullens."

Immediately his face became furious. Bad start. "No violence," I continued quickly. "No threats. I _promise_. But…it's just…it's just what he said that I need to talk to you about."

"Was it that bronze-haired leech again?" he muttered angrily.

I was about to tell him off for calling them 'leeches' but thought better of it, and just nodded.

"If he put a finger on you—"

"I already told you there wasn't any violence," I said. "Look, they're not as bad as you think."

He stared at me incredulously. "Bells, you don't know them like we do."

"No, I think you've got it backwards," I answered. "_You _don't know them like _I _do."

"What did that bloodsucker tell you?"

"He told me that his family suffers. Carlisle—the leader—he has tried so hard to keep humans relatively safe."

"And how do you know he was telling the truth?"

The truth was, I _didn't _know, but I told Jacob what was on my mind. "I believe him. He was sincere. I could just tell. They _try _to be good, Jake, but it's very hard for them to resist the temptation."

"Right, which means they are a threat to human society," he snarled. "They shouldn't even exist. They're the reason that you and I are forced to be what _we _are, to protect people from _them_."

"They're not dangerous," I said. Realizing this was not true, I quickly corrected, "Well, they _are_, but they try not to be. Which makes them less dangerous, doesn't it? They could have just gone on a killing spree if they wanted. But nothing's happened."

"They've only been here for a little while," he said. "You wait and see. By next week those parasites will have tried to kill half the town."

"Stop it, will you?" I sighed in annoyance.

"Stop what?"

"Calling them leeches and parasites and bloodsuckers. They haven't done anything wrong!"

"Yet," he muttered. "Look, Bells. They're dangerous, and that's that. You shouldn't be around them. Our kinds are better off away from each other."

I felt tears well up inside my eyes, but forced them back. "I thought you would understand."

He shook his head. "It's you who doesn't understand."

"Maybe if you weren't so narrow-minded, you'd be willing to listen to me!" I finally spat out.

With equal anger, he replied, "Maybe if _you _weren't so prone to their lies, you'd see that they're only trying to trick you!"

"You can't prove that," I hissed. "Jake, we're werewolves, and we stand against every evil. Isn't that our job?"

"Yeah," he sighed.

"Then who are we to automatically assume these vampires are voracious beasts like all the others?"

"You just said it yourself," he said. "All the others. _All _vampires are volatile."

"Sam would listen to me," I said.

"Sam's not here!"

"But it was Sam who told us not to pick fights with the Cullens!" I yelled. "You're just going to ignore Sam's advice, assume the Cullens are like all the rest?"

"Sam's orders were not to pick a fight. But even you know that he doesn't like the Cullens either."

"You don't have to like them," I snarled. "But just because you don't like them doesn't mean you have to be stereotypical."

His eyes narrowed. With a jolt I realized his limbs were shaking. He must have noticed that, too, because he took a calming breath and said with finality, "Sorry, Bells. I can't keep my temper around you anymore."

"Jake," I pleaded. Ignoring me, he stood up and swiftly made his way over to the door. Without looking back, he wrenched it open and disappeared. It closed with a _snap_.

"Well, great," I muttered.

Stupid vampires.


	9. Learning Session

So much for running with the pack. There was one very important stop I had to make, but one that I was dreading making. Just because I was sticking up for the Cullens didn't mean I was comfortable around them. They were just so…different. They looked and smelled different, even _felt _different. They moved like the wind, their actions smooth as liquid.

I took a deep, calming breath and stepped outside into the early morning air. Quite to my surprise, the sun was out. It was still very cool, though, but that hardly bothered me as I had a naturally warm temperature that was common for all werewolves.

Climbing into my truck, I started the rumbling engine and drove away, my heart pounding with anxiety. I knew where to go from what the others had told me, as they'd been keeping close watch lately. I took the longest route possible, to put off what I was frightened of doing. But it had to be done, if this stupid tension between werewolves and vampires was to be stopped.

For awhile I managed to relax as I drove through the lush green Forks landscape, enjoying the fresh morning scents as they wafted through the open window. Eventually I was out of town limits, and my anxiety returned. I stopped a few miles from my destination, and decided to walk the rest of the way.

I crossed a small stream and entered a grove of bushes, where most sunlight was replaced by shadow. I peered through the dense leaves of the trees, and out at my destination.

The Cullens lived in a mansion, probably the largest one I'd ever seen in my life. It looked nothing like what I'd expected. Their home was three stories high, and soft white, matching the pale clouds that drifted over it. It looked old, yet very inviting. Close behind it I could hear the roar of a mighty river. I couldn't see any cars.

Taking another deep breath, I stepped out into the open. My hair was lifted by a light breeze. I could feel my limbs trembling very slightly. _Get a hold on yourself, or you'll explode into a wolf at their front door, _I chastised myself. I started forward slowly.

"You look nervous," said a very familiar voice, causing me to yelp.

"How do you always know where I am?" I snapped at Edward, who was sitting on his porch where it was shady.

"I have a sister who can read the future," he replied easily. "It's not too difficult."

Then I remembered Alice, and could have hit myself in the head. She probably knew I was coming all this time.

"So…um…"

"Yes?" he asked, flashing his teeth.

I shook my head, gathering my thoughts. "Uh, how can you be out here?"

He frowned for a moment with confusion, then laughed. "Oh, you mean the sunlight? Well, I'm not really in it, am I?" he said, indicating the shade around him. "But the truth is, I can be in sunlight anyway. It doesn't bother us."

"So why are you over there?" I asked suspiciously.

"Why all the questions?" he fired back. "I'm the one who should be wondering why you're here."

"Doesn't Alice know?"

He nodded. "She does, but she refused to tell me. I don't always understand her."

I sighed and went to join him, surprised at how easily I approached him now. "Is your family home?"

"Yes. They're giving us privacy now; they'll want to hear all about our conversation when I go inside. Unless…you'd like me to show you around?"

"Um…"

He smiled again. "I'll take that as a no, for now."

"Actually, I wanted to talk to you," I said, "about…vampires in general."

His smile disappeared. "What about us?"

"I'm just…curious," I said, which was only half the truth. His information would be necessary to pass onto the pack, but only so I could try to convince them that the Cullens weren't worth the bitter feelings.

He seemed to sense that I wasn't telling him everything, but shrugged and answered, "What do you want to know?"

"Well, first of all…are the rumors true?"

At this his grin reappeared. "Probably not. What rumors have you heard?"

"Oh, you know…" I said, feeling heat rise to my face. "The usual…"

He counted off his fingers. "Sleeping in coffins, afraid of crosses and garlic, wooden stakes…"

"I'm almost positive that a wooden stake doesn't bother you," I said, smiling in spite of myself.

He laughed. "It _would _be amusing to watch someone try to shove a stake through one of us. All they would succeed in was making the vampire mad."

"But what about the others?" I pressed on.

"Well, as for sleeping in coffins, I don't know where that originated from. We can't sleep at all."

My eyes widened in surprise. "Really? What does your family do at night, then?"

Suddenly, I felt more awkward than ever, and I knew my face was probably beet red at this point. _Stupid, stupid, stupid_. "Um…never mind," I said quickly. But he didn't seem interested in my face. Rather, he appeared to be studying my blush with a faint hunger in his eyes. I looked away.

"What about garlic and crosses and things like that?" I asked, quickly changing the subject.

He shook his head slightly, as if clearing his mind, and answered, "None of that is true either. It's not just garlic I hate, but _any _food…obviously. And crosses…Carlisle owns one."

"Really?" I said again, intrigued. "He's religious?"

"Not religious," he corrected. "It's rather a long story…let's just say an old friend gave it to him."

"And the sun?" I said, returning to our earlier topic.

"As I said, it doesn't harm us," he said.

"And you're in the shade."

"Yes."

At this he looked down, and I knew he was keeping something from me, possibly because of shame. I wanted to ask him, but thought better of it, and went onto another topic.

"So, about your diet."

His head whipped up, his topaz eyes narrowed. "What about it?"

"I'm not accusing you, Edward," I said, feeling a strange sensation as I said his name. "I'm honestly just curious."

He relaxed. "You want to know why I hunt animals instead of people?"

"No," I said. "I want to know _what _you hunt."

"Mountain lions, mostly. Occasionally deer, but they're not as…enjoyable."

I tried not to look repulsed.

"Other large predators, like bears and wol—" He cut short, but I already knew what he was about to say. I wasn't offended, though—I knew it was only natural for them.

An awkward silence passed for awhile, and then I asked, "_How _do you hunt?"

"We don't have fangs," he explained. "Our teeth are very sharp, designed for cutting flesh. I suppose they're much like yours whenever you take the form of a wolf. Of course, there's our venom, and our speed and strength. We can usually sense our prey from several miles away."

It was all fascinating for me. As he explained more and more about his kind, I realized that while they were different from us, they should still be respected. At least the Cullens.

"I want to give you a tour," he said after awhile, and I felt my heart jump with anxiety. "Don't worry," he added with a grin, noting the look that must have crossed my face, "I won't let them get you."

I tried to smile.


	10. Meet the Family

I followed Edward tentatively inside. The interior of his home was even more beautiful than the outside, its grandest feature being the elegant spiral staircase that dominated the center of the room. The floor plan was open and roomy, yet warm and cozy at the same time. It certainly smelled very different here. I remembered at first thinking the vampires smelled much too foreign for my liking, but I might just get used to this.

I jumped as I noticed movement to my left, where there was a polished grand piano on a platform. Next to it were none other than Carlisle and Esme Cullen, Edward's parents. Strange how I considered them "parents" now, whereas before I'd considered them "coven leaders."

"Carlisle, Esme," Edward introduced formally, "this is Bella."

"A pleasure to meet you, Bella," Carlisle said, offering his hand. I shook it, as was polite, and tried to ignore the strange cool feeling of his skin on mine. Esme smiled warmly and welcomed me to her home. Either they were sincere in their greetings, or very good actors.

My acute senses were drawn to the top of the stairs, where a short, spiky-haired vampire and a tall, honey-haired vampire appeared. Alice and Jasper.

Alice danced gracefully down the stairs; Jasper followed behind. They both smiled at me, although I could sense that they didn't hold quite the same warmth as their parents. Nevertheless, we said our greetings. Alice had a high-pitched voice, but not irritating. In fact, it sounded quite musical like her brother's. Jasper held out his hand, which I shook. Immediately, I felt calmness spread through me, and I suddenly recalled Jasper's power.

"You're quite an interesting character," Alice stated, and I felt a blush crawl up my face. From her tone, I decided to take it as a compliment.

"Thank you."

I could tell that Jasper had radiated ease throughout his family members as well, because they now seemed much more comfortable around me. This didn't last long, however. I heard more movement from upstairs, and not a moment later another of their family appeared.

Still tall, still as muscular as I'd ever seen anyone, was Emmett. Quite opposite from him, and breathtakingly stunning, was the blonde-haired female, who must be Rosalie. Emmett didn't appear to notice me at first, and asked bluntly, "What's that smell?"

Then he noticed me, and froze. Before I could stop myself, my foot eased backward. I thought I felt Edward's hand lightly brush my arm, but when I looked down, both hands were at his sides.

"Emmett, Rosalie, this is Bella," Carlisle introduced. My own greetings were frozen in my throat. Both of them regarded me with such coldness that I felt a nervous tingle weave its way up my spine.

"What's she doing here?" Rosalie asked. Her voice held a mixture of curiosity and repulsion. I glanced at Edward, who was glaring at her, but she didn't appear to notice him.

"You know why she's here, Rose," Alice said, a hint of anger in her voice.

Rosalie's eyes narrowed, and Emmett was still with shock and uncertainty.

"Bella, I'll show you my room," Edward said, dismissing any further conversation. I nodded gratefully—I was much more comfortable around him alone than his entire family. Of course, I knew it probably wouldn't work out perfectly the first time, but I'd hoped for a little more warmth from Emmett and Rosalie.

Edward moved swiftly up the stairs with me in his wake, and he almost shoved past his brother and sister, avoiding their faces. I didn't dare look at them up close; I didn't want to see any more of the coldness of their eyes.

I didn't bother to pay much attention to the bedrooms as we made our way quickly down the hallway; I was only concentrating on not losing Edward. He stopped at the last room, held the door open for me, and then shut it loudly behind him.

His room was large and open, and the entire south wall was made of glass, providing a gorgeous view of the lush landscape behind the house. I could see the river in the short distance, and the expanse of the blue sky. My eyes moved to take in the arrangement of his room. A long, inviting black leather couch was placed against one wall, along with various other pieces of furniture, but no bed. Another wall was taken up entirely by the largest CD collection I'd ever seen, and from what I could tell, it was mostly classical music.

I turned finally to look at Edward, and was shocked to see his eyes black with anger. I took a step back to give him room.

"I'm sorry," he said, trying to control his fury. "But Emmett and Rosalie…"

Realizing the problem, I said, "You can't blame them, Edward."

"They had plenty of warning from Alice's vision. They _knew _you were coming, and why. They're just being stereotypical."

I sighed, remembering my recent conversation with Jacob.

"This was a bad idea," I said. "I shouldn't have come. I'll leave, and give your family time to—"

"No," he interrupted. "Emmett and Rosalie will tolerate you as long as I tell them to."

And from the dark look in his eyes now, I pitied the person who didn't listen to whatever he told them to do.

"What…what about the others?"

He sighed. "Sit down, Bella."

I did as I was told, trying to make myself comfortable on the couch, but failing because of tension. He sat down beside me, closer than I would have expected.

"Carlisle and Esme," he explained, "are quite pleased with the effort you're making. They think you're brave. A lone werewolf comes to a houseful of vampires, her mortal enemies, with only peaceful intentions. That takes courage, Bella.

"Alice," he continued, "is mostly just very surprised, but she also admires your bravery. Knowing her nature, she would most likely accept you very quickly. Jasper…he likes keeping things to himself. But as you've seen, with my mind-reading and Alice's future-seeing, it's very difficult to keep a secret around here."

"I can imagine," I said.

He nodded. "I admit, Jasper wasn't thrilled about the idea of a werewolf coming to our house. But now that he's seen you, and spoken with you, even if only a few words, he regrets thinking any negative thoughts about you. Emmett and Rosalie…"

"Don't like me," I finished for him.

He looked down, anger pooling in his eyes again. "They're being difficult," he said. "Out of all our family, they are the most stubborn. If the others can reason with them, try to make them see that you're not just an overgrown dog…" he smiled, hoping to lighten my mood.

I grinned back. "…Maybe there is hope."

"There's always that."

"What about _you_, though?" I asked him. "I would have expected a family like yours to reject me, just because I'm a werewolf. Why have you been so trusting?"

He pondered his answer for awhile before saying, "You're not an easy person to read, Bella. And coming from a vampire who can read minds, that's something to be proud of. But I can see that you're sincere with your intentions. You really _want _peace between our sides. While there's no actual war between us, there is heavy tension, which could snap any day. You're going against all your instincts, and I'm guessing you're going against the orders that your pack has given you. You arrived here, knowing fully well that we could turn on you, but you were willing to make an effort. And I admire that."

After this speech, I didn't know what to say.

We sat for awhile in silence, though not an uncomfortable silence. I was slowly growing accustomed to the strange scents of this house. I wondered what the rest of his family were doing. _Probably talking about me, _I thought.

The door burst open, causing me to jump. Alice stood in the doorway, a frantic look on her face.

"What is it?" Edward demanded.

"The werewolves," she gasped. "They're coming. They know she's here, and they're furious."

It took me a moment to realize that she'd seen a vision of my pack coming here. What would they do once they got here? I shuddered to think.

Edward's eyes widened. "How soon?"

"Only a few minutes," she answered. "Bella, you've got to get out of here."

I nodded, standing up from Edward's couch and making my way swiftly to the door, Edward close behind. Alice stood back to give us room. When we reached the living room, I saw that the rest of the family was gone, probably back in the other rooms somewhere. I realized I'd never actually gotten a tour of Edward's house.

Edward and I hurried outside, and he shut the door behind us. I started down the porch, but he reached out to catch my arm. His hand moved out into the sunlight, and my eyes widened as his skin began to sparkle, as if it were embedded with thousands of tiny jewels. He realized that his hand was exposed to the light, and quickly drew it back, a look of horror on his face.

"Bella, I…"

I wasn't sure what to say. Was I repulsed? No. Amazed? Yes.

"Edward—"

My words were cut off by angry barking in the distance.

"Go!" Edward said, careful to stay in the shadows. Before I turned away, he added, "Bella…be careful."

I opened my mouth to respond, but the barking grew louder, and I quickly transformed, moving off the porch to do so. My white fur was bathed in sunlight, and Edward stared at me in awe.

_I'll kill them…_

_What was Bella thinking?_

_I hope they didn't hurt her…_

_I'LL KILL THEM!_

Confused, worried, angry…

All these thoughts bombarded my mind, sending me into a panic. With a last glance at Edward, I shot away toward the trees, my paws pounding against the ground with every heartbeat.

…………………

Yay, another chapter done! Sorry about the shortness of Bella's conversation with Edward's family. There will be lots more, I promise. And in case any of you were wondering, the Cullens aren't really attracted to Bella's blood because she's a werewolf. They aren't repulsed by it (well, except for maybe Rosalie and Emmett), but they don't have the desire for it like if she were a human.

And also, I really appreciate all the reviews! I'm glad so many people are enjoying my story. I can't decide if I'll make a sequel yet or not…I guess it all depends on how long this story ends up being.


	11. Another Author's Note

I'll be gone for most of next week, so you won't see any updates for awhile. I'll add as much as I can today—the thoughts are flying around in my head but there's just not enough time to get them onto the computer. And thank you to all the readers of my story, I'm glad you're liking it.


	12. Losing Hope

I braced myself for the arrival of my pack. I could see them running fast and hard in my direction, determination painting their features. Surprisingly, it was Jacob and not Sam who was in the lead, his russet fur flying with the speed of his movement.

Apparently their determination kept them blind to their surroundings, because they ran straight past me, not even noticing I was there.

_Wait…_

Jacob was the first to realize he'd just passed the one he was looking for, because he suddenly skidded to a halt, causing the others to yelp and groan as they tried to stop also. Completely ignoring his brethren, he leapt over the pile of tangled wolves, transforming into a human mid-leap, so that he landed in front of me on two feet instead of four. I also transformed.

"Are you hurt?" he demanded.

"No."

"Did they threaten you?"

"No."

"Did they force you to do anything?"

"No."

He paused, apparently trying to think of something else to accuse the Cullens of doing. I took this opportunity to tell him that I'd gone there of my own accord. Disbelief and anger drained the color from his face.

"For the love of God, Bella, what did you think you were _doing_?" he asked, his fists clenching at his sides.

By this time, the other wolves had managed to order themselves and change into human form. Sam stepped forward and put a hand on Jacob's trembling arm. "Calm down, Jake."

"SHE WENT TO THEIR HOUSE!" he thundered. I took several steps back, but I didn't have the chance to explain myself.

"Bella, you idiot!" Paul accused. "You had us worried sick!"

"Have you gone suicidal?" Jared snapped.

"Maybe she's been helping them," Embry suggested, his eyes narrowing.

"Shut up, both of you," Jacob barked at them.

"How about _all _of you shut up, and let Bella explain?" Sam said, finally quieting the arguing pack. I let out the breath I'd been holding. "Well, Bella?"

"I'm not suicidal, and I'm not against any of you," I sighed. "I went there to try and make peace with them." Jacob snorted at this, but didn't interrupt. I continued. "Look, someone was bound to start a fight sometime, and where would we be then? At war with the Cullens. How does that help anyone?"

"You could have at least _told _us where you were going," Paul said.

"And you wouldn't have let me go," I argued.

"_Because they're dangerous!_" Jacob hissed. "Bella, I don't know how to get it through that thick skull of yours—"

"If they're so dangerous," I snapped, "why didn't they just kill me right then?"

"How are we supposed to know the way a stupid bloodsucker's mind works?" Jared questioned.

"Control yourselves, all of you!" Sam commanded, and with such authority that we all went dead silent. Everyone except Sam and I were trembling with rage, on the verge of morphing.

"I want _everyone _to go home, _now_. Except you, Bella," he added, as I'd started to walk away. When we were alone (Jacob was the most reluctant to leave), Sam sighed heavily and turned to me, and then launched into chastisement.

"You've acted foolishly, Bella," he said. "Even if we _are _avoiding a war at this point, mingling with the Cullens is dangerous. I know they didn't threaten you," he added, as I'd opened my mouth to argue, "but still, our kinds are not meant to be around each other. You've accomplished nothing today. The pack is in turmoil. Therefore, I'm forbidding you to speak with any of the Cullens from now on. Failure to obey my orders will result in your banishment from the pack."

I was silent. This pack was my only family, aside from Charlie. I would never see Jacob or any of the others again. I couldn't be thrown out!

Seeing the desperation on my face, Sam's face and voice softened. "I'm sorry, Bella. But I mean it. Don't try to handle this yourself. It will only end in disaster."

Once again I felt tears in my eyes. I stepped back from Sam, shaking my head. I could see sorrow in his eyes, but no contradiction to anything he'd said. Before the tears could spill over, I morphed into a wolf and ran away.

I plunged from the trees and onto open ground, where the sunlight poured from the sky. Jacob had obviously waited for me out there. He looked shocked when he saw me so upset. "Bella?"

Completely ignoring him, I ran past, not stopping to look back, not even paying attention to where I was going. I finally stopped on a rocky outcrop, overlooking a small lake. Fear, anger, desperation, and misery welled up inside my chest, like a giant snake that constricted all my hope. I howled to the skies, letting it all out.


	13. Pain

Jacob tried to call me several times over the next few days, and I ignored each persistent ring of the phone. Mostly I just sat in my bedroom, paying no attention to the frequent rumbles of my stomach or the need to sleep. Instead I would lie awake at night, pondering. Much as I tried to hide it, Charlie noticed my behavior, and summoned me to the living room one Saturday afternoon. I sat down on the couch, dreading the upcoming conversation.

"Bells, I'm worried about you," he sighed. "You haven't been eating. And you won't talk to Jake, or any of those other boys you hang out with."

I shrugged. "I guess I'm just stressed, Dad."

"School doesn't start for a long time, you know," he said. "What do you have to be stressed about?"

"It's…complicated," I said. "I'd rather not talk about it. Don't worry about me—it's just a phase."

The truth was, it was against the rules for humans to know about the secret world in Forks, the one that consisted of werewolves and vampires that shared mutual hatred toward each other. And even if I _was _allowed to tell Charlie, there was simply no way he would even begin to believe me.

He was persistent, though. "What are you doing up in your room?"

"Just…listening to music, reading…you know, the usual," I answered, hoping I sounded convincing.

"You never used to do all that."

"I guess I just have more time on my hands."

Which was perfectly true—I avoided running with the others at night, preferring to lock myself up in my room.

"I think you should start getting out again," he said. "You were happy when you spent time with Jake and the other boys. Now you're just…depressed," he finished rather lamely, but I suppose "depressed" was a good a word as any.

"I'll try, Dad," I told him, though I knew I couldn't keep that promise.

Apparently, though, I sounded convincing enough, because Charlie let the subject drop. I gratefully returned to my room to think…

…and think…

……………….

I was jolted from my reveries by yet another ring of the phone, and this time it wouldn't stop. On the eleventh ring, I snatched the phone and muttered a halfhearted "hello" into the receiver.

"Bella, please just talk to me," Jake pleaded. "Look, Sam told us about his conversation with you. Believe me, I don't want you kicked out of the pack anymore than you do."

He paused. After a few moments I said, "Is that all you wanted to say?"

His voice dropped. "No…actually, I wanted to come over. Isn't Charlie going fishing today?"

"Yeah, he should be leaving in a little while."

"So…can I come over there?"

I sighed. "Sure, I guess."

"Bye, Bells."

"Bye."

…………………

A little while later, after Charlie had gone (in a much happier mood, since I told him that Jacob was coming), I heard the doorbell ring. I let Jacob in and we went up to my room.

"So, what do you want to talk about?" I asked, my voice sounding dead.

"You," he said. "I'm really…I don't know, Bella. You look awful."

I glanced into the mirror on the far wall. He was right—my skin was even paler than usual, so that I looked almost ghostly. My hair was a tangle of mahogany strands, as I'd not bothered to brush it. There were dark circles under my eyes, indicating my lack of sleep.

"I'm okay, Jake," I told him.

"No, you're not okay. Look, I'm sorry that I blew up at you after…well, you know. I was just really worried. And after I heard what Sam told you…I felt horrible, and I had to talk to you. And you wouldn't answer any of my phone calls…"

At last, my weak façade broke down. My voice cracked as I said, "I'm so scared, Jake. What if a war starts between us and the Cullens? And Charlie's worried about me…I'm on the verge of being banned from the pack, and then what? Charlie is the only one I'll have left, and I'll be so broken by then that I'll be useless to him."

I'd managed to hold back tears, but Jacob could see that I was close to breaking down. I sighed and turned away.

"Bella…" he said, his voice low, "I won't let anything happen to you."

I smiled weakly. "I know you won't."

There was a long pause, before…

"Bella?"

"Hmm?"

And he took my hand, causing my breath to catch in my throat. "I really like you."

"Jake, I…"

The look in his eyes was intense, and he'd obviously thought this out. But _I _sure hadn't, and I wasn't at all expecting this. While I was frozen, he leaned slowly toward me…

"Jake."

He pulled back, hearing the heavy uncertainty in my voice. I felt my heart break at the disappointment on his face, but I continued. "I'm so sorry, Jake. You know I care about you. But…but not in _that _way. You're like a brother to me."

"But, Bells, we could be more," he said hopefully.

I shook my head, the tears threatening to spill over. "I'm sorry. I really am."

He withdrew his hand from mine, his face looking hurt. I reached out to him, but he drew away again. "I guess I should go."

"No, Jake, you don't have—"

"No," he interrupted. "No, I need to get back to Sam and the others…"

He turned from me then, wrenching open the door and disappearing. As he shut it behind him, I could have sworn I heard him sob.


	14. Don't Cry

I sat on my bed with my knees drawn up to my chest and my arms wrapped around them. A light rain was falling outside. I glanced at the clock—it was nearly midnight. I'd not slept at all last night, and very little the night before. After Jake had left, I'd regained my emotionless state, eating only so that Charlie's worry would not return.

Now I stared blankly at the wall in my dark bedroom, my hair falling around my paper-white face. I'm sure I looked like a character from a horror film.

I'd made so many mistakes. I'd gone to the Cullens' house, where I was automatically rejected by two of them. That had triggered my pack's anger, and not only were the majority of them furious at me, but I now risked separation from them altogether. And just today I'd rejected Jacob, who had been so full of hope, only to have me crush it.

I really did love Jacob, but in a sisterly sort of way. I'd always thought that was how Jacob felt as well. I was blind to his subtle hints, unwilling to believe that he might actually _love _me. And now he had proclaimed it to me, perhaps not in so many words, but the meaning was clear, and it felt like a freight train had collided into my gut. I'd not been ready for this, and now Jacob and I were both miserable.

Suddenly I felt a wave of cool night air, and with it came a horribly familiar scent. I turned to see the last person I wanted in my bedroom.

"Get out," I hissed at Edward, who froze in the window. "I can't talk to you."

"Please?" he begged. "This is important."

His bronze hair was disheveled and slightly damp with rainwater; aside from my own face, his pale skin was the brightest thing in my bedroom.

I shook my head. "Do you know what happens if we talk to each other?" When he didn't respond, I said, "I get banished from my pack."

His mouth dropped open. "Why?"

I sighed. "Because you're a vampire, and I'm a werewolf, and I'm not supposed to talk to you, or even be around you, no matter what. And that's that."

"Bella…I thought you _wanted _to talk to me." He sounded almost as hurt as Jacob had.

"I did. But I can't."

He winced slightly when I used past tense. He obviously thought I didn't want to talk to him now, but how wrong he was…if I could just talk to him, I was sure he would listen to me. But that was forbidden.

"Edward, please just leave," I begged. "You shouldn't be here."

But he shook his head, and leapt lightly from the window, shutting it behind him. I growled softly.

"You need someone to talk to," he said. My eyes widened in shock, but I let my hair conceal my face so he couldn't see that.

"I don't need anyone," I told him.

I jumped when I felt the weight of him on my bed, so suddenly beside me that I scooted away. He sighed. "No one knows I'm here except you, right?"

"Right," I admitted.

"And as long as I'm gone before the morning, no one has any reason to know about it, right?"

I nodded.

"So, what's the problem?"

"The _problem_," I hissed, "is that you're a vampire."

He sighed. "You are what you are; I am what I am. I'm simply a monster. We can't change that. But we _can _change the way our kinds feel about each other."

His presence was weakening my emotionless shield that I knew so well by now, so that I was in danger of breaking down, like I almost had with Jacob. I didn't answer him, and for awhile we sat, completely silent and motionless.

"Bella."

My heart skipped a beat as I felt his cool fingers under my chin. He raised my head a fraction, forcing me to look at him and all his glory. He thought he was a monster; I thought he was a god.

"You look so tired," he commented, noticing the dark circles under my eyes. I studied his face as well. He also had circles, though much less noticeable than mine, and of course not for the same reason. His eyes were liquid gold, like butterscotch.

"How…" I lost my train of thought, simply staring at him.

"Yes?"

"How old are you?"

He sighed. "Do you really want to know?"

"I really do."

He hesitated, then answered, "I was born in 1901."

"Wow."

He smiled slightly, revealing the blazing white teeth that I knew could slice through bone and steel. Then he inhaled, slowly, deeply, and I knew he was memorizing my scent. "You smell so different than anything I've ever smelled before," he told me. "Not bad…just exotic."

"The same goes for you," I said.

He took my hand, his thumb tracing light circles on my palm. "And you're warm."

He leaned forward, and for the second time today I was unable to breathe. My limbs trembled slightly, not with rage, but with apprehension.

His eyes closed as he continued to breathe in my scent, and his lips touched to the corner of my jaw, feeling the warmth of my skin that was so different to him. His hand moved from my palm up to my arm, raising the hairs there.

My body relaxed, as did the façade I'd been working so hard to keep up. Silent tears gathered in my eyes and spilled over, trailing down my cheeks toward my chin. They never reached their destination. Edward brought his other hand up to my face, catching the tears on his nimble fingers.

"Don't cry," he whispered, touching his lips briefly against my cheek in a gossamer kiss.

I fought to hold back the rest of the tears. Instead I reveled in his cool touch as he continued to explore the warmth of my skin. His fingers lightly caressed the sides of my neck, down to my shoulders and arms. He moved up to lay a brief kiss at my left temple, then moved down my cheek. He paused before he reached my lips.

At last, I felt his lips on mine. A burning fire that I'd never felt before in my life was awakened in the pit of my stomach. Like some flaming creature, it rose up to my chest and into my throat, constricting it…

Completely forgetting to breathe, my arms twined around Edward's neck of their own accord. I felt a pair of strong arms wrap around my lower spine, pressing me closer to him. I exhaled.

"Bella," he whispered, his voice husky. He drew back a few inches, then moved to press his lips against the base of my throat, sliding lower and lower…

Somewhere in the back of my mind, a small voice warned me that this was wrong. It was enough. I pushed Edward back, sliding away to put more space between us. His eyes had turned black with passion, and he was breathing heavily.

"Edward," I said shakily. "We can't."

"I'm sorry," he apologized. "That was utterly…wrong. I should have controlled myself."

"No, don't apologize," I said. "You have no idea what that felt like."

"I think I do," he grinned.

I was panting now, too, not unlike the way I did when I was a wolf. "I think…I think you should go," I told him. I knew that if he didn't leave soon, my instincts would override my sense, and I didn't know what would happen then.

He nodded. "Do you feel better?"

I smiled, even laughed a little.

"Much better," he said. He took both my hands, leaned forward, and gave me a quick kiss before he moved to my window. Swiftly he slid it open, climbed gracefully through it, and disappeared.

I fell back onto the bed, closed my eyes, and slept better than I had in a long time.


	15. Crisis

My eyes opened drearily after the fourth ring of the phone at my bedside. I glanced at the clock—nine in the morning. One might chastise someone for sleeping that late, but I hadn't slept this well in days, and I wanted more sleep. Most of my dreams had involved Edward, and I wasn't eager to let go of them just yet. Still, I knew it was probably Jacob on the phone, and so I picked it up and mumbled a sleepy "hello."

"Bella?" It was not Jacob, to my surprise, but Sam, and his voice held a mixture of worry and frustration.

"Yeah?"

"Where have you been?"

Oh, boy. I was in for it now. I hadn't run with the pack for awhile now, and with the arrival of the Cullens, they were on alert for any other vampires that might come after them.

"I'm sorry for ditching meetings," I apologized quickly. "I'll come tonight, I promise."

"You've been neglecting your duties," he said. "Listen, I know you're upset right now. I didn't _want _to make that threat to you, Bella, but it was necessary. I can't have you so preoccupied with the Cullens that you forget where you truly belong."

Suddenly, I felt so much guiltier about last night, and how I'd let Edward kiss me.

"I understand, Sam."

"Good," he said. "Meet up with us tonight just south of Forks. We're trying to stay fairly close to the vampires' residence, just to be safe."

"Alright," I sighed.

There was a _click _as Sam hung up.

I went downstairs and was surprised to find Charlie at the kitchen table, drinking coffee and reading the morning paper. He looked up and said a cheerful "good morning."

"What day is it?" I asked, bewildered.

He frowned slightly. "Saturday."

I shook my head slightly, trying to clear it. I really _was _losing my mind.

"You look better this morning," Charlie commented, setting down the paper. "Sleep well?"

"Very."

"Well, that's good."

"I think I'll make myself some toast," I said. "Would you like some?"

He shook his head. "I'm going fishing with Billy in a little while, so I'll be gone most of the day."

"Okay," I nodded while I fished out the butter from the refrigerator.

That morning was fairly uneventful. Charlie left soon after I had finished my toast, and so I was left to ponder my thoughts again. I refused to let my brain wander in the direction of last night. Edward may have kissed me, but I couldn't see him anymore, and that was that. I was a werewolf, and my loyalties lied with my pack.

I felt dread at the upcoming meeting with my pack, something I'd never felt before. I'd always enjoyed running with them—it freed the burdens of everyday life, and I found my pack enjoyable to be around. But I knew they were furious at me. Well, at least Jared, Embry and Paul. I was pretty sure Jacob wasn't too happy with me, nor Sam, but they were both mature enough to keep better control of their emotions.

Guilt had wormed its way into me as well; I had rejected Jacob, my own kin, and accepted a vampire. I knew I couldn't go any farther with Edward. I'd have to ignore him from now on, no matter how hard it would be. I would also have to go to Jacob and talk to him, because I knew he was hurting now.

Another hour passed before I finally mustered up the courage to drive to Jacob's house. I didn't know how he would react to seeing me, but I had to try.

When my truck came to a noisy stop in front of Jacob's house, I took a deep breath and approached his front door. One, two, three knocks, and a few moments later Billy appeared. I recoiled from him in shock; he looked furious.

"Jacob's not here," he said curtly.

Then I realized the reason behind his anger. Jacob must have told him about our conversation, and suddenly I felt even more terrible than I had when I left.

"Um…where is he?" I asked as politely as I could manage.

"At Sam's."

Oh, no. It would be harder to get Jacob alone with Sam, and possibly the others, there. But, I would have to face them all tonight anyway, so I might as well get it over with.

I turned away quickly, feeling Billy's hard stare behind me. It took me only a few minutes to reach Sam's house and, to my utter relief, it appeared that Jacob and Emily were the only ones there.

Tentatively I knocked on the door, and it was the slender, beautiful Emily who answered. She, too, acquired some hostility when she saw me. How many people had Jacob told about our conversation?

"Hi, Emily," I greeted nervously. "Um…Billy said that Jake was here."

"He's talking to Sam right now," she told me. "Is this important?"

I nodded. "I really need to see him."

She sighed and granted me entry. At this point, Sam and Jacob had appeared in the living room. Jacob tried to hide it, but I knew him well enough to see that he was heartbroken. The sooner I talked to him, the better.

"Jake," I said, "I need to talk to you. Can we—"

At that moment, the door flew open, and Jared, Embry and Paul shot into the room, panting heavily. They took no notice of me, but went straight to Sam.

"Vampires," Embry informed him, huffing frantically. "Not—the Cullens. Other vampires. Killings."

"Where?" Sam demanded.

Paul took over, as Embry was too breathless to continue. "We first caught their scent a few miles south of Forks. We found three bodies so far." At this statement, I repressed a shudder. Paul continued. "We don't know how many there are. But they're getting closer to Forks."

Sam was outraged. Emily quickly moved to his side to place her hand on his violently trembling shoulder…

What happened next was over in scant seconds. Jared screamed "Emily!" and Sam exploded in an enormous mass of fur, teeth and claws. Emily screamed as she was thrown backward. There was a sickening _crunch _as she collided with a small roundtable, which cracked in half with the force of the blow.

An enormous wolf had taken Sam's place, its head and spine pressing against the ceiling of the room. Jacob and I quickly moved forward to help Emily, while the other three tried to get Sam out in the open.

Jacob swore under his breath. I turned, and the sight I saw made my breath catch in my throat. Emily lay unconscious in a pile of what used to be the table. One side of her beautiful face was marred by three ragged, foot-long cuts that extended from her temple down to her jaw. My eyes slid lower, and to my horror, I saw that Sam's claws had dragged down even further on Emily's arm. Crimson blood was pulsing from the cuts, making me lightheaded.

Jacob lifted Emily from the rubble while I seized the phone to dial 911. But Jacob's hand snatched my wrist, causing me to drop the phone.

"What are you—"

"How are we going to explain what happened to her?" he demanded.

"Does it _matter_? She'll die if we don't get help!" I retorted.

"Listen, Bella—"

"There's no time!" I shouted. Without further ado, I scooped up Emily and made a dash for the front door, narrowly avoiding Sam, who was still in wolf form but unable to get outside. I heard several voices hollering for me to come back, but I ignored them all, racing outside.

When I was far enough away from Sam's house, I gently placed Emily on the ground, took several steps back, and transformed. Carefully, I slid my head under her body and maneuvered until she was draped securely over my back. With that done, I was off again, racing smoothly and effortlessly through the forest, to the one I knew could help Emily.


	16. Unlikely Allies

I came to a smooth stop in front of the Cullen mansion. I thought about going up to the front door, but if someone other than Carlisle answered and saw Emily covered in blood, there would definitely be a problem. So I crouched down, still in wolf form, and let Emily slide carefully and gently onto a soft patch of slightly moist ground, before changing back into human form and rushing to pound on the front door.

Only seconds later, it opened, revealing Edward on the other side. He smiled when he saw me, briefly flashing his bright teeth, but it faded once he saw my worried look.

"I need to see Carlisle," I told him. "Emily's hurt."

"Who's Emily?"

"I'll explain later!"

Looking confused, he answered, "I'll go see if I can find him."

"You don't need to," came a voice from behind him, and I jumped slightly; I hadn't noticed the doctor's silent appearance. Edward stood back and let his father outside. "What's wrong, Bella?"

"A friend of mine, Emily, got hurt," I said quickly. "She's in the woods back there."

Carlisle nodded once and disappeared. I supposed he was going to get his bag. Edward started toward the forest, but I held out an arm to stop him. "There's blood," I said.

Luckily the wind was blowing the other way, or otherwise Edward may have smelled it. I didn't know how good he was at controlling himself, but I didn't want to take any chances.

Carlisle had reappeared already, and was heading off toward the woods. Edward took this opportunity to interrogate me again, repeating his earlier question.

"Who is Emily?"

"Well…she's Sam's fiancée," I told him. "You know Sam."

By the scowl that took over his face, he certainly did know Sam. I became even more worried. "Carlisle _will _help her, right?"

He nodded. "It doesn't matter who she's with. Carlisle will help her."

I exhaled in a relieved manner. "Good."

"What…what happened?" he asked, and by the tone of his voice, I gathered that he had a faint idea of what did happen.

I sighed. "Sam got…angry."

"Oh." He looked down.

"It happens sometimes," I said feebly. "We just…let our tempers get out of control."

"I know that," he said. "That's why we were all so impressed when you came here that day, perfectly under control. Even Emmett admits it," he added. "He thinks he misjudged you. I think, if you tried talking to him, he might be a bit friendlier."

I looked away. "I can't say I'm looking forward to seeing him."

Before Edward could respond, Carlisle had returned. "Go inside, Edward. I'm bringing Emily here."

"I can handle it," he shrugged, although I guessed he was trying to convince himself more than Carlisle. "I want to stay and talk to Bella."

At this point, my conscience intervened. _Bad idea, _it told me. _You know what happens if you stay here_.

And no doubt, Jacob and the others were on their way now, and they would certainly find me here. Not only was that bad for the Cullens, but it was bad for me, too.

Carlisle apparently read something in my expression, because he shook his head and said firmly, "No, Edward."

Edward sighed, took one last look at me, and disappeared inside the house.

"I have to go," I said to Carlisle. "Thanks for doing this, Dr. Cullen."

"Call me Carlisle," he said, smiling. "If you can manage to…keep your pack away, I can finish up with Emily and she should be fine."

"I can try," I said. "I might be able to hold them off for awhile, and as long as they don't suspect Emily is here now, they won't come."

He nodded. "Be safe, Bella."

I stepped lightly off the porch, transformed, and bounded away.


	17. Making Up

I met up with Jacob and the others halfway into the forest. The first thing I noticed was that Sam wasn't with them. They transformed and waited, silently, for me to do so as well. I morphed, hoping I could keep them busy enough to stay away from the Cullens.

"Well?" Paul demanded. "Where did you take her?"

"It doesn't matter," I said. "She's safe, don't worry."

It was considered a high crime, almost unforgivable, to lie to a member of the pack. We all trusted each other unconditionally, and we never kept the truth to ourselves if it needed to be told. It was hard to keep lies, anyway, because of the ability to read each other's minds when in wolf form.

Now they exchanged many glances, wondering whether or not to trust me. Jacob was the first to nod, and I let out a sigh of relief and gratitude.

"How is Sam?" I asked.

"Not good," was Jacob's answer. "He wanted to come, but he was afraid his temper would break loose again."

Embry sighed. "He really cares about Emily."

"If it weren't for those stupid vampires," snarled Jared.

Wanting to steer clear from the subject of vampires, I said, "Where did he go?"

Paul shrugged. "He went off to be alone. We don't know where."

"Bella, can I talk to you for a minute?" Jacob suddenly asked, and my heart lurched with dread.

"Um…sure," I responded.

The other three boys exchanged curious glances, but Jacob shooed them away. When we were alone, he went straight to the point. "I'm sorry."

I was confused, for a minute. He hadn't done anything wrong; it was _me _who had been causing everyone so much grief. He continued, though. "I shouldn't have…been so straightforward," he clarified. "I need to give you time."

My confusion didn't dissipate. "What are you talking about?"

He sighed. "Yesterday, remember?"

I gave a little gasp of realization. With all that had happened in so short a time, I'd completely forgotten about yesterday for awhile.

"Jacob, it's me who should be apologizing," I said. "I hurt your feelings."

He shrugged, looking down.

"I guess we both screwed up, huh?" he said, grinning a little.

I laughed. "I guess we did."

"So let's be pack mates again, deal?"

I held out a hand, and he shook it. "Deal."

"So," he said, "where _did _you take Emily?"

Uh-oh. "Um…well, I sort of…took her…"

He raised an eyebrow. "What did you do this time?"

"Oh, Jake, I took her to the Cullens'."

"WHAT?!" he thundered, his limbs immediately starting to shake.

"No, don't get excited!" I hastened to reassure him. "Didn't I tell you she was safe? Carlisle is a doctor, remember?"

"Bella, what were you _thinking_?" he demanded. "They're _vampires_! She was covered in _blood_! This is first-grade thinking, Bella!"

"Jake—"

He exploded then. Only my inhuman reflexes allowed me to get out of the way in time, but he was already off, racing in the direction of the Cullen residence. I sighed exasperatedly, shifted form, and ran off after him.

_Jake! _I called with my mind. There was no answer; he was either ignoring me, or he had blocked his mind from my thoughts.

It didn't take long for us to get there. Jacob plunged from the trees, and I was right behind him. We both skidded to a halt, however, when we saw what was in front of us.

…………………….

Hehe, aren't I so evil? Don't worry, you won't be left hanging for long. And I apologize for the short chapters, they'll probably get longer in the future. I'm planning on making a sequel to this story, and depending on how far my ideas go from there, I might turn this into a series.

And thank you to all my faithful readers! I'm glad you're liking the story.


	18. The Tension Subsides

Carlisle was standing in the doorway, Emily draped across his outstretched arms. Her entire arm was bandaged, as was one side of her head, and the bandages were blood-soaked.

Jacob let out a roar that sent a flurry of ravens up from the trees, cawing angrily. I saw what was in his mind; he obviously thought Carlisle had attacked Emily. He started forward, fangs exposed.

_You idiot, he _healed _her, _I told him. _Don't attack!_

His step faltered, but he never took his eyes off Carlisle, who was watching us both intently, obviously wondering what we were telling each other.

_Don't you see the bandages? _I pressed on. _He did that. She would have died from blood loss if it weren't for him._

Slowly, his head turned, and his eyes met mine. It was very hard to lie with your thoughts, but he obviously had trouble believing me. _Jake, you have to trust me, _I pleaded. _Did you honestly think I would leave Emily here if I didn't think it was safe? Do you doubt my judgment that much?t_ _It's me, Bella. It's your sister._

And as his eyes roved over my white form, something about my thoughts or expression, or both, changed his mind. He sighed, and the sound came out more like a low growl. Lowering his head, he transformed.

I did too. He waited for me to go ahead of him. I approached Carlisle and Emily, trying to ignore the blood caked onto her bandages. "Thank you," I said quietly. He simply nodded and handed Emily to me, very carefully. As he did, her eyes fluttered open.

"Bella?" she said in raspy voice. Saying my name stole the little breath she had, and it left her gasping, which obviously caused her pain. She winced.

"Don't talk now," I shushed her.

She didn't listen. "Where's…Sam?"

"He's okay. You'll get to see him soon, I promise."

"Tell him…" she gasped. "Tell him…not his fault."

"I will," I assured her. "Everything will be okay."

She took a few slow, deep breaths, wincing, but asked another question. "Where am I?"

"Emily," Jacob said, striding forward to where we stood.

Her eyes flickered to him, and one half of her mouth pulled up in a smile. "Hey, Jake."

"Take her home," Carlisle advised. "Let her rest."

"Who…" Emily started to speak, but her eyes closed again, and she went limp in my arms.

Alarmed, I looked up at Carlisle, who quickly assured me, "She's just exhausted. Once she's had plenty of time to recover, she'll be awake again."

He stepped back, meaning to shut the door, but Jacob said, "Wait."

I turned my head sharply, waiting to see what he would say. But all that came out of his mouth was, "I thought you meant Emily harm. I was stupid. All you've done is help her, and I apologize."

Carlisle nodded, which was good enough for Jacob. He took a step back, and said, "Let's go, Bella."

In his place was the great red-brown wolf. He sprinted away, leaving me with Carlisle and Emily, who was still in my arms, breathing slowly.

"She'd be dead if not for you," I said to him. He waited for me to say more, and I sighed before going on. "I don't want to be your family's enemy. I think we could be friends, if we could give each other a chance. I can't say that Jacob necessarily likes you, but…he respects you now. You've done us all a favor, and the rest of my pack will just have to accept that."

When I didn't say more, Carlisle answered, "You know, Bella, it is your determination that has led us this far. Maybe it will work out, after all."

"I hope so."

Carefully I placed Emily on the ground, morphed, and maneuvered her onto my back again. Once she was secure, I looked up and noticed that Carlisle had disappeared. I turned to leave, but something in one of the upper windows caught my attention. Edward was sitting in his bedroom window, watching me.

Emily stirred slightly. Though I knew she'd not yet fully awakened, and that she wouldn't be able to understand me even if she had, I reassured her softly with my mind. _You'll be home soon, Emily. You are safe._

And I ran for the trees.


	19. Mistake

Several days had passed. Emily had slept for two of them straight. When Sam returned, feeling awful, he never left her side. At least one of us was always there with him while he sat by her side, gently stroking her hand, murmuring to her.

Through all this, I managed to stay normal for Charlie. He still worried about my lack of sleep, because the circles under my eyes were definitely starting to look permanent. I would always reassure him that this was normal for teenagers to stay up all night. He seemed unconvinced, but he didn't pry too far.

A week after the attack, I went to Sam's house to check up on them. Jared and Embry were on his couch in the living room when I entered. "Hey, Bella," Jared greeted dully. My pack had pretty much forgiven me at this point, when Jacob told them about what Carlisle had done. They were still wary of the Cullens, still wouldn't go anywhere near them unless absolutely necessary, but at least they'd stopped making snide comments about them whenever the topic came up.

"Is Jacob or Paul here?" I asked.

"Nope," said Embry. "But somehow, Quil found out about the accident."

I was startled at the mention of his name. "How did he find out?"

"We're not sure," said Jared. "He doesn't live that far, though, so I guess word could have gotten around…"

"We don't want word to get around too far," I warned. "How're we supposed to explain what happened to Emily?"

"That's what we're trying to figure out," Embry said. "We didn't exactly have an answer for Quil when he asked, and now he's suspicious."

I sighed. "Well, another problem to add to the list, I guess."

"Yeah, but we have a bigger problem," Jared said. "The vampires that have been making their way toward Forks were…dormant for awhile. We've been keeping tabs on them," he explained. "We followed their scent about twenty miles south of Forks. They've been hanging around there for awhile, but now they've started up again, and they'll be here soon."

"How soon?" I asked worriedly.

Embry shrugged. "Two, maybe three days. They keep stopping for some reason."

I gasped. "There are houses out there!" I said. "People who live alone. What if they're getting killed?"

"Sam thought that might be a possibility," Jared said, nodding. "But he doesn't want us to make a move yet. We still don't know how many there are. He won't let us attack if they outnumber us."

I clenched my jaw. "So what? We're just supposed to sit back and let the vampires go on a killing spree?"

"You think we're any happier about it than you are?" Jared snapped. "We tried to convince Sam. Even without him, we could take the vampires."

"But what Sam says goes," Embry sighed. "So we're stuck here, arguing about what we _would _do if we _could _do anything."

"I should go talk to him," I said.

I made my way to Sam's bedroom, where I wasn't surprised to see him sitting with Emily, who was asleep again.

"How much has she eaten?" I asked quietly.

He didn't look up from her face as he answered, "Only a few meals."

I sighed.

He looked at me then, and I jumped slightly. His eyes were red, bloodshot, and there were circles underneath them, even more noticeable than mine. His usual russet skin, quite like Jacob's, had lost its luster, and he looked almost sickly.

"Sam…" I gasped. "You look horrible."

His voice broke as he said, "This is all my fault, Bella. I should have controlled my temper. It's because of me that my fiancée is bedridden with horrible cuts down her body. If I hadn't—"

"Sam," I interrupted, moving to put a comforting hand on his shoulder, "what good will it do Emily to wallow in self-pity?"

He looked up at my face, and sighed. "It won't help her at all."

"Exactly." I smiled. "We're wolves, Sam. We protect those we love. And no one, _no one_, could look at you now and say you don't love Emily."

He finally smiled, but it was a sad, tired smile. "I appreciate it, Bella."

I wanted to say more, but he looked like he wanted to be alone with Emily. I got up and left the room, feeling suddenly very tired.

"That was quick," said Embry.

"Where are you going?" Jared asked.

I shrugged. "I think I'll go home," I said. "I really need some sleep."

"Yeah, you look like it," Embry said. "See you, Bells."

"Bye, guys."

I walked outside, feeling a light drizzle from the clouds above. I changed into a wolf and ran, slower than usual but still too fast for any human to notice me. Once I reached the dense cover of the forest, I stopped and changed back. I found a large, thick tree, and scaled it, climbing as easily as a cat would.

As I settled myself in a fork between two branches, I leaned against one of them, tilting my head back and letting the light rain fall on my face. It was like a cool relief that soaked up all the intense heat from stress, anger and despair that seemed to rule my life these days. I closed my eyes, breathing slowly and quietly, and soon I felt myself drifting off, in a state between dream and consciousness.

…………………..

I felt something cool lightly brush against my arm. My eyes snapped open; I gasped, my feet slipping beneath me. Someone caught me before I fell from the tree and flat on my face. I looked up to see Edward, who was clearly trying very hard not to laugh.

"Don't _do _that!" I said angrily, maneuvering until I was safely back in the tree.

"Sorry," he snickered. "Aren't werewolves supposed to be more graceful than that?"

"You obviously don't know what I was like as a human," I huffed.

"I think I would have liked to see that."

I rolled my eyes. "You know you shouldn't be here."

He sighed, turning abruptly serious. "I know."

"Then why do you keep following me around?" I demanded. "It doesn't do either one of us any good."

He looked down, observing a shiny black beetle as it scuttled its way down the trunk, apparently surprised by my near plummet from the tree. "I don't know," he finally said. "I just…find myself more comfortable, when I'm with you."

"That doesn't make any sense, you know," I told him. "A vampire shouldn't feel comfortable around a werewolf."

"Ah, but if we _didn't _feel comfortable, we might very well have killed each other by now," he pointed out. "So, I suppose it's lucky that at least the two of us don't hate each other, wouldn't you say?"

I opened my mouth to argue, but as my mind processed his words, I realized their truth. "I suppose you're right," I agreed.

He took my hand unexpectedly, his cool thumb running back and forth along my palm. "I would say I'm a bit more than just comfortable around you."

I extracted my hand from his and folded it in my lap, watching as his face fell.

"Why do you draw away from me like that?" he asked, sounding hurt.

I sighed, thinking about my answer. "I don't want to hurt your feelings," I said. "But my pack…they're my family."

He watched me with intense golden eyes, absorbing my words.

"It's so hard to explain," I said.

"Try," he urged.

My eyes slid away from his face and down to my interlaced fingers. "It's not so easy for me to ignore you," I said. "I don't…like it, when I have to push you away. But some things…some things are more important than what _I _want."

The gold in his eyes froze over with anticipation. "What _do _you want?" he asked, his voice low.

I felt a blush creep up my face. "Sorry, Edward, I have to go," I muttered, starting to slide down the tree. For the second time, he caught me.

"Please don't," he whispered. "Stay."

I looked up at him. I knew I couldn't disappoint him now. With a sigh, I anchored my feet against the trunk and slid back up into the branches.

"Do you want me?" he asked, very seriously.

I shook my head without thinking of an answer. When his face fell again, I explained, "I can't be with you, Edward. Even if I want to, it wouldn't be right, and I would be disobeying my pack."

He shook his head, and I knew he wouldn't let this go. "But do you _want _to be…with me?"

"I…"

What did I say? Yes? Of course, that was the truth. Vampire or not, he was more than charming, and I'd already let myself fall for him. But if I told him that, I would simply be diving deeper and deeper, and eventually I wouldn't make it back to the surface.

"Bella," he said quietly.

He took my hand again, and I found I didn't have the strength, or the willpower, to resist this time. He leaned forward, making sure I could smell his breath as he spoke. "You can't tell me you didn't feel anything when I came to your house that night."

His scent swirled around me, clouding my thoughts, and I had to lean away to form a rational response. "It's too complicated."

"What's so complicated about love?" he demanded.

"_Love_?"

"Yes, love!" he said exasperatedly. "You thought I was talking about a petty teenage _crush_? Bella, I'm in love with you, and hard as I try to convince myself that it's crazy, I can't deny that."

I was speechless. Somewhere, in the back of my mind, I knew love was there, but I'd never actually expected it to come forward, until now. And now, I was unprepared.

Edward took both my hands now, leaning closer. I tried to move away again, but my spine hit the branch of the tree. "Bella," he told me firmly, "I don't care if you're a werewolf, understand?"

I gulped and nodded.

"Good," he said.

Taking advantage of the way I was trapped against the branch, he leaned in the rest of the way, and the next thing I felt was his cold lips on mine, not in a chaste kiss, but filled with fire, like the night in my bedroom. My arms were pinned to my sides by his hands, and while I could have fought him off, my mind was too numb to react.

His lips moved to my throat, while at the same time his hands slid up my arms, sending shivers through them. Every instinct I possessed urged me to go further, to wrap my arms around him, but I couldn't let this get out of control…

I felt his lean, powerful body against mine, his teeth as they grazed my lips. I shuddered and relaxed against my will, my hands wrapping around his lower waist of their own accord. _Why _was I so easy to manipulate?

Suddenly, he froze. Confused, I opened my eyes and saw that his were wide, anxious…

"Edward?"

"Jacob," he hissed. My heart sank.

I started to disengage myself, but too late—I looked down and saw Jacob, staring up at us, his mouth slightly open.

"Jake, I—"

He shook his head, as if trying to clear the image he'd just seen. "I don't believe it."

Before I could say anything else, Jacob ran off in the unmistakable direction of Sam's house.


	20. Fight

I sprang from the tree, shifting into wolf form halfway down. I landed lightly on my paws and sprinted away, not bothering to see if Edward had followed. I called to Jacob with my thoughts, but again there was no response. I ran harder, barely touching the ground as I raced along.

My eyes quickly took in Jacob's wolf form up ahead. Because he had his mind blocked to me, I barked out loud, something I rarely did. His constant pace never changed, but I thought I saw one of his ears flick backward.

Panting, I sped up, the forest a blur around me. We made it to open ground. Only a few more miles and we would be back at Sam's house.

My hind legs tensed, pushing off from the ground. I soared over Jacob's entire body, landing a few feet in front of him and swiveling around to face him. He skidded to a halt, growling angrily.

_Jacob, please, _I pleaded to him. _Please, listen to me._

_Don't waste your time, Bella, and don't beg. It doesn't suit you_, he snarled. _Why don't you go back to that filthy bloodsucker? Stay away from our pack._

_Even _you _don't want me anymore? _I asked incredulously.

_I trusted you. If I can't trust my sister, she's not my sister at all._

His words, or rather thoughts, left me heartbroken. But then again, I realized I'd done the same thing to him. He was trying to cover it up with anger, but I could tell that deep down, he was in despair.

A white blur passed so close to me that it ruffled my hair. Both our heads whipped around; the blur did a semicircle and came back toward us, stopping where we stood. The blur turned out to be Edward.

Jacob pulled his lips high over his fangs, growling, before shifting form. "Get out of here, bloodsucker, before I hurt you."

"It wasn't Bella's fault," Edward said, ignoring his threat. "I pushed her too far. She didn't want to. Please forgive me."

Before I had a chance to intervene, Jacob threw his head back and roared an earth-shattering roar. "I CAN'T BELIEVE YOU HAVE THE NERVE TO EVEN GO _NEAR _HER, AND THEN COME HERE AND START BEGGING FOR FORGIVENESS!"

"Jacob!" I warned, for he had started shaking now.

"Stay back, Bella," Edward ordered, but I shook my head.

"I'm a werewolf, too," I reminded him.

Jacob exploded in a flash of teeth, claws and fur. Edward crouched, baring his teeth and growling. I could see that Edward didn't want to fight, but he was trying to protect me, as if I was only a weak human. And then there was Jacob, who was _also _trying to protect me, but acting mostly because of sheer hatred for Edward.

There was a crash akin to a clap of thunder. Edward and Jacob had leapt simultaneously, colliding in midair. Jacob had Edward pinned with his massive front paws, attempting to tear into Edward's chest. But Edward seized Jacob by his throat, throwing him backward into an evergreen. The tree shattered in a flurry of bark and needles.

I changed form, bounding forward to intervene, but both of them dodged me, clearly trying to keep me out of the fight. Jacob leapt over me, landing several feet away, and Edward followed. The fighting continued. Even as I tried to stop them, they would always move away from me. Jacob kept pinning Edward to the ground, but he would always retaliate, throwing Jacob back.

Suddenly, I heard a terrible ripping noise, and a yelp straight after. My eyes widened. Jacob had torn into Edward's chest, leaving a ragged hole in his shirt. A clear liquid was flowing from Edward's skin, and I realized it was venom. He looked down at the gash Jacob had created, and fury rose in his eyes. Now he attacked with more force than ever, battling Jacob so hard that Jacob was being forced backward, unable to throw Edward off him.

I ran toward them, trying to step in between them. Before I reached them, though, Edward let out an ear-shattering roar and seized Jacob by the scruff of his neck. With blinding speed, he threw Jacob straight for a thick tree trunk, and this time, I was in between him and his target.

I closed my eyes; a millisecond later, I felt Jacob crash into me with the power of a freight train. I yelped as both of us were thrown backward into the tree. My consciousness was quickly slipping.

The shattering of the tree as we slammed into it.

An anguished cry from Edward as he realized what he'd done.

And the distant thoughts of my approaching pack members.

I blacked out then, and waited helplessly as the pain engulfed me.


	21. Under the Stars

_Thirsty…_

_Water._

My eyes fluttered open. A black fog clouded my vision, but as the moments passed, it slowly subsided, and I was able to see clearly. I was in my room, but it was nighttime, and my door was shut. I turned to glance at the alarm clock on my bedside table, and gasped out in pain.

It was then that I realized everything _hurt_. It felt as though someone had pried open my skull and shoved a brick inside it. My limbs felt heavy, like they'd been stiff for days. For all I knew, they might have been. I noticed my breathing was fairly shallow, and when I tried to take a deep breath, pain stabbed at my chest like needles. I tried to flex my fingers. More pain slid up my arms.

Keeping my head very still, my eyes flickered sideways to the alarm clock. Two-thirty in the morning. What day was it? How long had I been out?

Then, with a rush of terror, I remembered what had happened before I blacked out. Horrible snarling…Jacob being thrown into me…Edward's terrified cry when he saw what happened to me…

Just then, the door opened. It would have been too soft for a human's ears, but my perceptive hearing let me know that Charlie was about to enter. Sure enough, he peeked inside to check on me.

"Hey, Dad."

My voice was rough and hoarse.

"Thirsty?" he guessed.

I nodded, and then wished I hadn't. The brick inside my head shifted, so that my brain felt like it was pounding against my skull. "I'll go get you some water," Charlie said. I waited, being as still as I could, and a few moments later, Charlie returned with a glass in hand.

He had to help me drink, as I couldn't lift my head. When I'd finished sucking down the entire glass, he offered to go get more, which I declined. Then he asked me, "You must be feeling awful now."

"Mm-hmm."

"You must have hit your head pretty hard."

I suddenly realized that what had really happened, and what Charlie _thought _happened, were two very different stories. In order to learn what Charlie thought he knew, I took my head injury to my advantage and played dumb. "What happened?"

"Jake said you fell of your bike while you were ramping. I didn't know you could ride over ramps," he added.

"Apparently, I can't," I answered, trying to make a joke of it. He chuckled.

"I thought I told you not to do stunts like that," he chastised. "This is the kind of thing that can happen."

I sighed—painfully—and promised I wouldn't do it again. Because, for one, I hadn't done it in the first place, and two, I didn't know whether I'd ever be on good terms with Jacob again.

His face softened, and he patted the covers over my stomach.

"Hey, Ch—Dad?" I asked.

"Hmm?"

"How long have I been out?"

He was quiet for a minute while he thought, and then answered, "Almost three days."

I gasped, wincing from the pain, but I no longer cared about that.

He frowned and said, "You need to relax, and get some sleep. When you get your voice back, you can holler if you need anything." He winked. "Good night, Bells."

"Night, Dad."

I tried to look tired as he got up to leave the room. When the door closed, however, I let panic take over.

Three days. My memory flashed back to the day I'd talked to Embry and Jared at Sam's house.

"_The vampires that have been making their way toward Forks were…dormant for awhile. We've been keeping tabs on them. We followed their scent about twenty miles south of Forks. They've been hanging around there for awhile, but now they've started up again, and they'll be here soon."_

"_How soon?"_

"_Two, maybe three days."_

What if the vampires were already here? What if my pack was in danger at this very moment? And what about Edward?

Completely ignoring the searing pain that shot down my spine, I used my arms to push myself out of bed. I was surprised that I was in so much pain; werewolves healed quickly. Edward must have delivered a _very _powerful blow.

I knew I couldn't jump out the window in my condition. I also knew that if I tried to sneak out the front door, Charlie would hear, because he surely hadn't gone back to sleep yet. So I was left to wait…

…and wait…

………………………

It was a quarter past three when I finally emerged outside my house. My limbs felt like jelly under my weight, and my head still contained the brick, but I forced myself to go anyway. I had to see Jacob, now.

I was too weak to transform, and I knew my truck's blaring engine would wake Charlie in an instant. The thought of walking all that distance, trying to bear the pain I was going through now, was nearly impossible. Hopelessly I sank to the ground. Tears brimmed my eyes; I needed to be strong now, I needed to find Jacob. I couldn't break down now.

"Don't cry, little wolf."

Wonderfully cool, familiar fingertips brushed tears from my cheek, just like that very first time. "Edward," I whispered, throwing my arms around his neck. It was amazing, how immediately calm I felt when he was there. He embraced me gently, holding me against his chest and kissing the top of my head. A sharp pain crept up my side, making me wince. Noticing my pain, he withdrew.

"No!" I protested, taking his hands at least. "Where did you—how—?"

"There's not very much time," he said, his voice low. "The vampires have reached Forks. They're aware of our presence, and of yours."

"How many are there?" I asked anxiously.

"Six. Three males, three females."

While six was more than I'd hoped for, I relaxed slightly. "Only six against your family and mine?" I said. "They won't stand a chance."

He shook his head sadly. "Their powers are unlike anything I've ever seen, anything even _Carlisle _has ever seen. Two of them are elementals—they control earth and fire."

"What?" I gasped, trying not to wince again.

He nodded. "The other four have mixed powers. One of them has a power similar to Jasper's—he can manipulate emotions, and in a battle, that's a powerful weapon. He could destroy your will to fight, your will to do anything."

"And the others?" I asked quietly.

"We don't know about them yet," he admitted. "Emmett and I have been spying on them, trying to figure it out. We're not sure they have powers," he added, "but it's better to be safe than sorry."

I sighed, leaning into his chest again. "What about Jacob?"

He stiffened slightly. "Jacob…is fine. Somehow, you received the worse of my attack. Bella…I don't think I'll ever forgive myself for that."

I looked up at his eyes, which were black as the sky above us. "Please don't feel bad."

He smiled grimly. "I just want you to heal soon."

"I will," I assured him. "Our kind heals very quickly."

"Your alpha—Sam—wanted us to leave for good," he said. "But once we learned about the arrival of the new vampires, we promised to your pack that we would help defend against them. It took a _lot _of persuading on Carlisle's part," he added, "but in the end, Sam agreed that it would be better to join forces."

"But…Jacob, he saw us in the tree," I said.

Edward sighed. "He had every intention of telling that to Sam. But he knew that if Sam figured that out, he would have _definitely _banished us, and your pack would be left to try and fend off the new vampires alone. Jacob finally decided that it would be better…not to say anything."

My heart went out to Jacob then. He had kept our secret, and even if it was for the good of the pack and not for me, he had still kept it.

"When will we fight?" I asked, dreading the answer.

"_You _will not be fighting," he clarified. "_We _will meet the vampires in a little less than two days' time, before they have a chance to go on their killing spree."

I was indignant. "I will absolutely be fighting!"

"Bella," he sighed, pushing me away, but keeping my hands in his. "You're still healing."

"I'll be fine," I said. "What good is being a werewolf if you can't fight off the nasty bloodsuckers?" I grinned.

He rolled his eyes, kissed my forehead, and said, "You are so insane."

He drew me in again, wrapping his arms carefully around me, and I was pleased to discover that this was relatively painless. The night was alive around us; crickets and cicadas hummed soft melodies, and an owl hooted serenely from a high oak tree. I glanced up to see that the sky was starry, a rare occurrence in this little town. We sat together, his arms wrapped around me, for an immeasurable time.

And for once, my life was peaceful.

"Edward," I sighed after awhile.

"Hmm?"

I kissed his chest. "I think…I'm in love with you."

He paused, then lifted a hand to touch under my chin, lifting up my head so we could kiss. This time, I didn't hesitate or feel guilty. On the contrary, this felt very right, exactly the way it should be.

"I love you too, Isabella."


	22. Author's Note: Update

Okay folks, things are going to get seriously exciting from here until the end of this story. I'm really looking forward to writing it. I can't promise that all chapters will be novel-length, though, so bear with me. I AM planning on making a sequel, and possibly a series, out of this story. Thanks, once again, to the avid readers of this story. It really brings it to life when you give me your comments, and I appreciate it.


	23. Choices

We sat together, unmoving, for another immeasurable moment, until Edward sighed and said, "You need rest." Before I could protest, he gathered me carefully in his arms and headed for the wall, ready to scale its height to my bedroom window.

"No," I argued. "I have to see Jake."

He sighed again, rolling his eyes. "You can talk to Jacob when you've recovered."

"But I don't know how long that will take!" I pouted.

He grinned. "You'll heal quickly."

"Do you want me to go wolf on you?" I threatened, though I knew I was too weak and tired to transform now.

He chuckled and lowered his head until his lips met mine, delivering a kiss passionate enough to make me forget why I was protesting. I'm sure that was his plan.

"What were you saying?" he asked playfully, when he had finished.

I snarled. "At least let me _walk_ to my bedroom."

He shook his head stubbornly. "I think I prefer carrying you."

Without further ado, he shifted my weight to one arm, carrying me easily while he used the other arm to climb up the wall, open my window, and leap gracefully inside.

"What's wrong with using the front door?" I asked when he'd deposited me onto my bed.

He shrugged. "Don't you think it's more romantic if I carry you up to your window?"

"Not really," I answered, though I agreed with him. But I _wanted _to be stubborn.

He rolled his eyes again. "_You _need to go to sleep."

"I'm not tired," I said as I tried to ignore the yawn that threatened to give me away.

"What if your father comes in here, expecting you to be asleep, and you're not there?"

I couldn't argue with that. I loved Charlie, but it was always hard to try and be normal for him. If he knew he was raising a werewolf for a daughter, I wasn't sure what he'd think.

So I sighed and climbed under the covers, feeling even more exhausted as I snuggled into their warmth. I curled up on my side, nearly falling asleep, before suddenly I felt Edward's cool arm around me. I nearly avoided yelping in surprise.

"You think I can sleep with you next to me?" I snapped at him.

He chuckled again. "You should try."

"You are so _stubborn_."

But the more I argued with him, the more tired I became. So I finally gave in and closed my eyes, smiling a little when he hummed a soft, low song for me to go to sleep.

…………………

When I woke the next morning, Edward wasn't there. This shouldn't have surprised me, but I couldn't help feeling disappointed. Had he stayed there all night beside me, lying awake while I slipped into uneasy dreams?

I noticed, with relief, that I was not in near as much pain as I had been last night. This was certainly an upside to being a werewolf. I stood up and stretched. Only a small jolt of pain that made me wince briefly, and then I was fine. I would have to _pretend _to be in pain for Charlie. I wondered if he'd come to check on me again last night.

Clear skies were short-lived here in Forks. When I looked out the window, a thick cloud cover hung over the town. The air smelled heavily of rain.

I went downstairs, and discovered Charlie in the kitchen. I hobbled along, wincing most of the time. He looked up from reading his paper, and gasped.

"Bella, get back to bed!" he ordered.

"I'm okay, Dad," I said. "I need to walk around, stretch my legs."

"Honey, for heaven's sake, you got thrown off your bike. You don't need to be walking around at all."

"Dad!" I complained. "I can't just lay in bed all day. I have to see Jacob."

His eyes narrowed. "Why not call him instead?"

I sighed, deciding it would be best not to argue further. "Okay, okay, I'll call him."

"Get some rest today, Bells. Drink lots of water."

And he went back to reading his paper. I tried not to laugh; Charlie was trying so hard to be the perfect, attentive father, when I would have much preferred to heal on my own.

I went back upstairs, but didn't go back to bed. Instead I shut the door and dialed Jacob's number.

"Hello?"

"Hey, Jake, it's Bella."

He grunted. "What do you want?"

I sighed. "Jake, I don't want it to be like this."

"Sorry, Bella. But it's either them, or us. You're not loyal to the pack if you're in a relationship with _Cullen_."

"And why not?" I demanded. "Look, the Cullens have kept their word. They're helping us fight."

"That's what Sam thinks," Jacob muttered.

"Excuse me? I thought _you _were the one who wanted us to join forces against those other vampires."

"I don't _want _to," he growled. "The only reason I didn't tell Sam about what I saw is because he's got enough on his mind, what with keeping an eye on Emily and trying to monitor those other bloodsuckers, too."

"Jacob…you _won't _tell him, will you?"

He sighed. "I've got to, Bella. Unlike you, _I _am loyal to my pack."

"That's enough," I snapped. "Just because I'm trying to make peace with the Cullens doesn't mean—"

"That's not all you're trying to do," he said acidly. "You obviously have something going with that one leech. You don't even care about our pack."

My mouth fell open. "Jacob Black, you are such an _idiot_!" I cried. "It's none of your business who I spend my time with! You actually have the nerve and the ignorance to call Edward a leech, when it was _his father _that saved Emily's life! If it weren't for him, she'd be dead! And then you say I'm not loyal to the pack! I can't _believe _you!"

"Fine, have it your way," he snapped. "Stay with the Cullens, and see if I care."

Before I could respond, there was a _click _as the line went dead.


	24. The Plan

I had to see Sam. He was the only one that _might _be able to talk some sense into Jacob. But first, I had to get past Charlie. He would hardly let me walk around the house, let alone allow me to run off to Sam's house. So, I waited for the opportune moment…

"Bells, I'm going to the station," Charlie announced from downstairs. "If you need anything, call me, okay?"

"Okay, Dad."

"Bells?"

"Hmm?"

"Don't leave this house, understand?"

I hated lying to my father. But some things were necessary in times of crisis. "I won't, Dad."

"Good. I should be back in a few hours or so. Try not to walk too much while I'm gone."

I waited until I heard his cruiser pull out of the driveway before I hurried downstairs, grabbing my jacket along the way. I peeked out the front door. The cruiser was nowhere in sight.

Once outside, I ran, ignoring the twinges of pain that still flickered in my head and chest. I couldn't take the truck—if I didn't come back in time, Charlie would notice that right off. I had to wait until I was far enough away from people before I could shift form.

I was a faster runner than any human, but I still preferred to run as a wolf. So when I reached a safe spot to transform, I eagerly did so and dashed the rest of the way to Sam's house, which only took a few minutes.

It had begun to rain when I reached his front door. Luckily, he was the only one there, except for maybe Emily. I pounded on the door. The rain turned to a downpour before it was opened.

"Bella!" he said, surprised. "I know werewolves heal fast, but that was _really _fast."

"I'm not exactly healed," I corrected, "but I'm well enough."

"I called for the others to come, but they haven't gotten here yet."

"I need to talk to you about Jacob," I said. "How soon will he be here?"

He frowned. "Only a few minutes."

"Then we need to make it quick."

"Come inside; you're getting all wet."

I took off my dripping jacket once inside and hung it on the rack next to the door. We both sat down at the small table that dominated his tiny kitchen. I noticed vaguely that most things had been repaired since his accidental attack on Emily.

"What's the problem?" he asked.

I sighed. "You won't want to hear this, but I have to tell you. I went to the Cullens' house on the day of the…accident." I didn't want to say "On the day that you attacked Emily," because it sounded too accusing. "I went there because I knew Carlisle could save Emily, and he did."

"Yes, Jacob told me that," he said, nodding. "Frankly, I'm glad you did, because otherwise, she wouldn't be here."

"Yes," I agreed, "but…there's something Jacob didn't tell you."

Before I could continue, the front door swung open, and on the porch stood Jared and Embry, sopping wet and looking disgruntled.

"Stupid bloodsuckers," Jared muttered as he stepped inside, Embry close behind.

"What happened?" Sam inquired.

"We caught their scent on the way here," Embry informed him. "The new ones. They'll be here by tomorrow at the latest."

Sam swore under his breath, but I was glad to see that his body was perfectly still, no shaking. Embry and Jared were about to shut the door, when Paul suddenly appeared behind them, looking equally wet and sour.

"Sam," he said, "I just caught the scent of—"

"We already told him, dolt," Embry shot at Paul.

Paul shuffled his feet. "Oh."

Jacob suddenly appeared behind Paul, huffing and bowing his head against the rain. Paul stepped inside to give him room. I wondered why _I _hadn't caught the scent of the vampires, but then I realized I'd taken a different route here than they had.

"Sam," Jacob said. "On the way here, I smelled…what's _she _doing here?" he snapped, suddenly catching sight of me.

"Jacob, I don't care why you're angry at her," Sam said, getting up to shut the door behind the soaking boys. "But whatever it is can wait. We have a problem that needs to be dealt with."

I could have sworn I heard a growl rumble from Jacob's chest, but I knew he wouldn't dare assault authority now. All three boys came into the kitchen, trailing water as they walked.

"The vampires will be here very soon," he said. "There are three males and three females." I knew he was saying this mostly for my benefit, as the others probably already knew. "Two of the males have black hair, and are able to control earth and fire, which will be a deadly weapon against us. The third male is a redhead that, apparently, can control how someone feels."

"Not very impressive," Paul scoffed.

"On the contrary," Sam countered, "it's very effective, for him at least. He can destroy your will to fight."

I remembered Edward's words, and avoided a shudder.

"Now," Sam continued, "there are two blonde females, which have no powers as far as we've seen. But they move like lightening, even faster than the males. Watch out for them. The third female also has black hair, and has a mind-numbing power. She can force someone to be still in battle, so that they're pretty much a sitting target."

"We can take 'em," Jared said confidently.

"Even without the Cullens," Embry added, and I noticed that Jacob scowled when he heard their name.

"But the Cullens _will _be helping us," Sam said. "And I don't care how much you don't like them. They're on our side, at least for now. It's better to have joined forces, and it will be much easier to take out the opposing vampires."

"Where are we fighting them?" I asked.

"South of Forks, at the river," Sam answered. "We can use the water as a defense against the one that controls fire."

"Bring plenty of garlic and holy water, everybody," Embry said jokingly. "Those leeches are going down." There was a chorus of agreement from the rest of the boys.

I only wished that I had their confidence.


	25. Extra: Bella in Wolf Form

In case any of you were wondering what my version of Bella in wolf form looks like, I made a drawing of her that can be found on my profile. Just click the link there.

I made it last night while it was pouring rain, but I couldn't upload it until today because of the lightening. So, head over there and check it out if you care at all!


	26. I'll Keep You Safe

I returned home that afternoon, my nerves tight. Today might very well be my last day to live…I'd gotten into scuffles with humans before, burglars and the like, but I'd never faced off against a vampire coven, and a powerful one at that. What _really _gnawed at my gut, though, was the thought of losing one of my pack or one of the Cullens, even Rosalie. What if I lost Edward?

What if I lost everyone?

_Stop it, _my conscious snapped. _You can do this_.

I didn't know how on earth I would be able to act calm for Charlie while I was focused on not dying. When he returned home that evening, the first thing he did was ask me how I was feeling. He seemed quite astounded when I told him that all I had were a few pains now and then.

"It wasn't really _that _bad of a fall, Dad," I told him as we ate steak that night.

"Bella, you've been out for nearly three days, and suddenly you're up and bouncing around. Why should I not be suspicious of that?" Charlie fired at me.

I gulped. He was getting far too nosy for his own good. It was solely for his safety that I didn't tell him about my secret life. I couldn't blow my cover.

"Just don't worry about it, Dad. I'm fine, honestly."

He eyed me speculatively, sighed, and laid down his fork. "Sometimes I wish your mother was here to help me with these kinds of things."

My mother. What if I never saw her again? I could picture her in Florida, happy-go-lucky as always. She would receive a phone call from a sobbing Charlie, learning that her only daughter was dead…

"You're doing fine," I told him, flashing a genuine smile. "Don't worry."

He grinned back, his eyes creasing at the corners. "You're a good girl, Bells."

I felt the hot sting of tears begin to prick at my eyes. I pleaded a full stomach and headed upstairs for the evening, trying very hard not to cry. Charlie informed me that he would be fishing all day tomorrow, so at least I didn't have to worry about sneaking out.

I shivered and curled up into bed, not tired in the least. I knew I should probably get some sleep, but how did one sleep when anticipating a battle that ultimately decided the fate of the people in Forks?

I longed for Edward to be here, laying beside me while I fell asleep, listening to his soft lullaby. But I knew he was probably at home with his family, not having to worry about sleeping. He would be up with them, talking, planning…

My mind wandered in the direction of Jacob. We'd never made up. I really loved Jake; not in the way he wanted me to, but still, my love for him was completely heartfelt. A few tears leaked over the edge.

My eyes fluttered; the next thing I knew, I had slipped into a dream.

_Six pairs of crimson eyes flash in my direction. The vampires smile sadistically, revealing pointed, blood-stained teeth. Jacob and Edward are beside me. Jacob is the first to lash out, his teeth exposed, but one of the vampires sends a streak of fire toward him, knocking him backwards._

"_Jake!" I scream, running to him and falling into a kneeling position beside him. His massive chest is still; his eyes are closed. "Jake…please…"_

_I hear an outraged snarl; whipping my head around, I see Edward soaring high in the air, only to be thrown backward by one of the females, who is laughing. Her shrill voice sends shivers down my spine. I try to move toward Edward, who is now writhing on the ground, screaming out my name…_

_I stumble forward, but my mind is going numb…my muscles refuse to work. One of the males steps forward, running his tongue across his fangs, tasting the blood. He reaches a hand toward my eyes, blacking out my vision._

"Bella!"

Two cold hands are pinning my shoulders to the bed; I hear Edward's voice, and I shake my head to rid myself of the nightmare. I open my eyes to see Edward's concerned face looking into mine.

"It's alright," he whispered, pulling me against his chest. "You're fine…it was just a dream."

"Just a _nightmare_," I corrected in a shaky voice.

He ran his fingers lightly up and down my spine, soothing me. "You will be safe. I promise, I will not let them touch you."

I burrowed my head into his neck, shivering. "I can't let you die, Edward. I can't let Jake die, either."

"No one will die except them," he said, his tone calm despite his words.

Though I couldn't agree with his words, I stayed silent, trying to push the vivid memories of the nightmare from my mind. He pressed a gentle kiss to my forehead.

"Why did you come here?" I asked, when I'd found my voice again.

He pulled back slightly, frowning. "Do you want me to leave?"

"No!" I protested, almost too loudly. Lowering my voice, I clarified, "I mean, I thought you would be with your family."

"I stayed with them for the first few hours of the night," he said. "But the more I thought about it, the more I realized that I should be with you. And it sounds like I arrived just in time."

Gently, he laid me back against the pillow, slid the covers over me, and stretched out on his side, wrapping an arm around my waist. He brought his free hand up to smooth the hair from my face.

I let out a shaky breath, willing myself to go back to sleep. Sensing the lingering distress, Edward hugged me closer. "I'll be there, Bella. I'll watch out for you."

I smiled a little. "Who would have ever thought a vampire would say that to a werewolf?"

He laughed softly. "We are the strangest couple, aren't we?"

I nodded. "But I like it that way."

He sighed. "Try to sleep, Bella. We still have a few more hours until dawn."

"Okay," I answered, closing my eyes. Now that I'd survived the aftermath of the nightmare, I was feeling sleepy again.

I felt him kiss my forehead again. "I love you."

"I love you, too."


	27. Anticipation

My dreams faded into nonexistence. I opened my eyes unwillingly; I felt Edward beside me as he planted a cool kiss to the top of my head. Somehow I had ended up with one leg between both of his and my arm wrapped around his waist. I felt heat creep up my face and disengaged myself. He caught my wrists and kissed each one.

"Don't be embarrassed," he told me softly.

I ducked my head anyway.

"It's time," he said.

My eyes opened a little wider. "How do you know?"

"Alice," he said simply.

"Oh," I answered, comprehending. "Does she know what will happen?"

He shook his head. "No, the new vampires won't stick to one decision. She can't tell what moves they're going to make."

I sat up and stretched, looking out the window. There was a light cloud cover, but I could tell that the sun had risen only a few minutes ago.

"Has Charlie left yet?" I asked Edward, who was still stretched out on his side.

"Yes, after checking on you, I might add."

"I suppose it's a good thing you can hide so quickly," I mused.

He nodded, then finally swung his long legs over the bed. "I have to go meet my family," he told me. "We'll meet your pack before the other vampires arrive."

"Okay," I said, trying to keep my voice even.

"Bella," he murmured, taking my chin between his thumb and forefinger. "I promised to keep you safe, didn't I?"

I managed to smile. "_You're _the one who needs protecting."

He rolled his eyes, abruptly lightening the mood. "There's no way they're getting through me."

"Ha," I scoffed. "Well, I'll be there anyway, just to make sure."

He smiled, crossed the room in one swift motion, and disappeared through the window. Nothing left for me to do except find my pack.

……………………

I quickly cut the engine to my truck, trying to keep quiet. I'd hidden it deep in the forest, locking it securely before I left it alone. Once in a fairly roomy space between the trees, I shifted form and listened.

I could hear the very distant thoughts of my pack, but I would have to run a few miles before we could communicate well. Taking a deep, calming breath, I ran through the trees, swerving around them easily, until I reached open plain.

A grassy knoll provided me with an excellent view of the land below. In the distance I could see my pack, congregated in a tight circle on the closest side of the river that ran parallel to the horizon. A few rays of sun spilled through the clouds, illuminating small patches of land. Had I not been so worried about what was to come, I would have simply stretched out here on the cliff, admiring the view.

Instead, I ran down to meet my pack.

_The vampires are only a few miles from here, and they're running fast, _Sam told me, his voice calm.

I nodded, sniffing the air. I caught a very faint scent of them, and they smelled nothing like the Cullens; they smelled sour and repulsive, like rotten eggs. My ears flattened in disgust.

Jared, Embry and Paul were discussing various defensive tactics, as though fighting vampires was all a game for them. I tried to ignore their excited thoughts, and instead began pacing nervously.

I jumped slightly when I felt a cool muzzle brush my shoulder. I turned to see Jacob at my side with an apologetic expression.

_Bella, _he said, _be careful._

_I will, _I told him, rejoicing that he was no longer furious with me. I guess the prospect of battling a coven of sadistic vampires had really mellowed out his rage.

_Please don't die, _he went on, looking so serious that I had to laugh out loud, which sounded more like a combination of a cough and a growl.

He looked indignant. _I was being serious!_

_I know, Jake, I know, _I told him, nuzzling him back. _But with you here, how can I be worried?_

He paused, obviously trying to decide whether he wanted to stay mad. Then, his face took on the wolf equivalent of a human grin, and I knew he'd forgiven me.

_I figured that no matter how frustrating you are sometimes, _he told me, _that you're still my sister. Whether you're in love with the blood—I mean, with Edward—or not._

I wagged my tail. _Thanks, Jake._

At that moment, we heard the sound of footsteps touching the ground behind us, and we turned to see the Cullens, who had arrived. All their eyes were black, giving them sinister appearances. Jared, Paul and Embry scowled at them, but Sam, and even Jacob, nodded in their direction.

Edward moved immediately to my side, stroking the fur on my shoulder. I flicked his hair with the tip of my tongue, a gesture that probably looked very strange, but he grinned in response.

Everyone noticed our quiet display. Sam, Jacob, and most of the Cullens remained calm, unsurprised, while the rest looked agitated, but did not object. Edward's expression told me that he didn't care one way or the other about what they thought, and frankly, neither did I. We were simply happy to be beside each other again.

Emmett moved to his brother's side. "Bella, you have no idea how weird this feels talking to an overgrown wolf," he began, and I hid another growling laugh, "but I just wanted to apologize for my behavior when…you came to our house that day. If Edward is happy with you, then so am I."

Though I couldn't answer him aloud, I wagged my tail, stepped forward, and nudged him playfully in the chest. Edward snickered when a confused look crossed Emmett's face; he'd obviously never been playfully nudged by a werewolf before. Awkwardly, he patted my forehead, having to reach all the way up to do so. "Good girl."

We resumed our former positions. Most of the Cullens stayed fairly close to me. Sam and Carlisle stood side-by-side in front of our party, scanning the horizon with keen eyes. Everyone was dead silent as we waited, except for the various thoughts radiating from my pack. Edward never removed his hand from my shoulder, and Jacob never left my other side.

A slight breeze picked up, and with it came a strong wave of the vampires' scent. Most of my pack snorted and shuffled their paws uneasily. Sam and the Cullens, however, remained perfectly still, although they looked more alert.

I glanced sideways at Edward; his midnight eyes flashed to meet my brown ones, and then back to the horizon, narrowing.

Six dark figures were racing toward us. My body stiffened; my ears flattened and I pulled my lips over my teeth slightly, a low growl sliding from my throat. Edward hissed softly. Emmett's massive arms flexed menacingly, while Jacob kneaded the earth with his claws, clearly ready for action.

The vampires moved into a band of sunlight, their skin glittering briefly, before they ran harder, stopping only when they reached the opposite side of the river.


	28. Battle

My eyes roved over the vampires. The males stood in front of the females, their posture tense and waiting to spring. I noticed that one of the black-haired males did not have the snowy white skin that marked vampires for what they were. Instead, his skin was a sickly reddish-orange color that gave him the appearance of having some foreign disease. I identified him as the fire elemental.

The male that stood beside him also had black hair, and I knew he must be the one that controlled earth. The third male had hair a bright shade of red. Behind them, I quickly took in the three females—two blondes and one raven-haired girl, small like Alice, but holding none of Alice's warmth. Her fingers twitched anxiously, as if her dearest desire was to wrap them around someone's throat.

All of these vampires had sinister, crimson eyes, just like the ones in my dream. I was pleased to see, however, that their teeth were not sharp. My shoulders quivered slightly.

"Well, look at this," said one of the blonde females in a hissing voice, "we're fighting mutts and vegetarians. This should be easy."

Her female companions snickered.

"So, brother," the redhead said casually to the fire elemental, "which should we take out first?"

"Hmm…we'll have to experiment."

Faster than lightening, his palm flashed into the air and produced a string of fire, aimed straight for Sam. Paul, Embry and Jared lashed forward, snarling furiously. The fire collided with Sam before he'd done so much as blink, and he was thrown backward into the air. The earth elemental gave an almost lazy flick of his wrist, and out of nowhere shot a fifteen-foot boulder. Sam crashed into it, splitting it in two.

"You scum!" Jared roared, throwing himself into the fire-controlling vampire. His target's eyes widened, surprised that Jared had moved so fast.

The fight was on. Each side launched themselves across the river, so that we met in the deepest part of the water. Jared's attack had sent the black-haired male flying backward, and the two of them were locked in a battle of teeth and claws, before Jared yelped as he was blasted with a short burst of fire.

Sam had recovered and rejoined the fight. He was taking on both blonde females, whose reflexes were almost too much for him to handle. With a roar I torpedoed myself toward one of them, dragging her by her leg away from Sam. She snarled furiously, whipping around to grab me by the throat and rip away the fur. I yelped, staggering backward into a fight between Emmett and the redhead. Apparently he was managing to weaken Emmett's resistance, but Emmett was still holding his own.

The blonde female that attacked me had run off to engage in a scuffle between Jasper and the black-haired female. Jasper was clearly winning; the female's eyes were drooping and she was weakening under Jasper's effects. He was caught off-guard, however, when the blonde female collided with him and wrestled him to the ground. Alice, who had been busy helping Carlisle throw off the earth elemental, gave an enraged snarl and ran to plummet the blonde repeatedly.

I whipped around to see Edward, locked in a fight with the fire elemental, who had obviously burned Edward's skin many times. Edward was clearly weakening; fire was the only thing that could directly harm a vampire. With my teeth exposed, I flashed toward Edward's opponent, throwing my enormous paws against his chest. He yelped as he was thrown backward into the river and disappeared from sight.

Edward sprang lightly to his feet, ignoring me when I gave his burns a worried look. He darted off to help Esme and Rosalie, who were trying to fend off one of the catlike blonde females.

There was an ear-splitting howl. I turned my head and my eyes widened when I saw Jacob on the ground, writhing in pain that was clearly being caused by the red-haired male. With Jacob entangled in his own agony, the earth elemental caused a tree to fall on him, pinning him in place.

_JAKE! _I screamed, using all my strength to slam into the redhead. One of the blonde females leaped on my back, and I threw my hind legs in the air, trying to buck her off as a horse would a rider. The blood from my earlier throat wound was spilling onto the redhead below me.

"I'm not interested in _werewolf _blood," he snarled, clawing his way into one of my paws. I yelped.

Out of nowhere, Edward came soaring through the air and crashed into the blonde, knocking her off my back. This left me to deal with the redhead, which I did by seizing his throat and throwing him twenty feet into the air.

Panting, I looked around. Emmett and Jasper had managed to kill the black-haired female, and were just now being attacked by the outraged fire elemental, who was dripping wet from being thrown into the river. Sam was fighting off one of the blonde females, who had inflicted several wounds along his chest and head. Carlisle, Esme and Rosalie were battling with the earth elemental, who was manipulating the ground below them. The redhead male had landed some thirty feet away and now had his throat encased between Paul's fangs. Jared and Embry were fighting with the other blonde, who had just now managed to slam Embry against a tree and was now being pinned by Jared.

I looked to find Jacob, who was struggling to get out from under the thick tree. I ran to help him, shoving my muzzle under the trunk to try and lift it. With my strength and his, we managed to split it down the middle, so he was free to stand, though he was weak.

_Thanks, _he panted, rushing off to help Emmett and Jasper against the fire elemental. Frantically I searched for Edward, who was now helping Carlisle, Esme and Rosalie to tackle the earth elemental. With a spine-tingling screech, I heard that they'd done their job. When I looked again, the four of them had disappeared, leaving the earth elemental torn to shreds behind them.

I attacked the two blonde females, who were snarling and hissing like cats. One of them sank her razor teeth into my side, spitting out the blood with a disgusted look. I yelped, but I couldn't fend her off because I was busy with the other blonde. Once again, Edward came to my rescue, seizing the blonde by her shirt and throwing her into the river, where they engaged in another fight.

Trying to ignore the searing pain in my side, I threw my head around to grab the second blonde by her leg. She screamed in pain, but by the way I held her, she couldn't reach me. I tore into her marble skin with my teeth and tore at her face with my uninjured paw. Before I could see if she was dead or not, I felt something hard slam into my side. A ball of fire had collided with my fur, and set it ablaze. Paul whipped his head around, his eyes widening at the sight of me. In a millisecond he had me shoved into the icy water, where the fire was doused immediately.

Exhausted, I thanked Paul and climbed out of the water after him. My legs trembled under my weight, and both my sides were searing, but I saw that Edward was being pinned to the ground by the blonde female he'd thrown off me earlier. I heard a terrible ripping noise; her teeth had gone into his exposed chest, ripping through the skin and leaving a gash there. He roared in pain and fury, but his roar blended with mine. Ignoring my own agony, I darted forward and slammed into the female, throwing her so hard that the tree she hit cracked in half and fell on top of her.

This exertion of energy had me lying on my side. Looking around, I saw that Emmett, Jared, Paul and Carlisle were in the same position I was, too injured to keep fighting. So far we'd eliminated the black-haired female, one of the blonde females, and the earth elemental. The rest were putting up more of a fight than ever. Esme, Rosalie and Alice were tackling the fire elemental; Jasper and the rest of my pack were fighting the blonde and the redhead. Jasper and the redhead seemed to be using their powers on each other. Tiny Alice was putting up the best fight of them all, repeatedly dodging the fire elemental's attacks and at the same time, helping her sister against the blonde female.

"Bella."

Edward had reached my side, and despite the fact that there was a huge tear in his chest, he was inspecting _my _wounds, concern and outrage on his face.

"Are you alright?" I asked him.

"I'm fine," he said distractedly. "Stay here."

"Wha—?"

But Edward had already sprang to his feet and rushed to throw himself against the blonde. I tried to stand and go to them, but not a moment later, I heard another screech. Looking over, I saw that were the blonde had been, there were only shreds.

Now the fire elemental and the redhead looked nervous. They still fought, but Jasper's power had the fire elemental unable to send fire to anyone. Rosalie took this advantage to attack the black-haired male, and with Esme's help, they quickly eliminated him.

The redhead backed away. Everyone that could fight was advancing on him. His red eyes flashed to me and, seeing my weakened state, he ran toward me. Edward lunged forward, trying to stop him, but too late—the redhead slammed into me, sending me over a rift that had been created by the earth elemental. When I stopped sliding down the dirt slope, I felt pressure as the redhead landed on my stomach, tearing into my chest. I snapped at his head, leaving marks with my teeth.

Edward and the others appeared over the ridge, sliding easily down. The male vampire's head whipped up, eyes flashing dangerously, before he seized me by the scruff and threw me against a jagged boulder. I howled in excruciating pain as shards of stone sliced into my already wounded flesh, spilling blood across the ground.

My vision was fading. I heard Edward's infuriated and thunderous roar as he threw himself into the redhead. Vaguely I registered the others sliding gracefully down the rift and moving to attack the redhead. With him under control, Edward flashed to my side.

"Bella, please stay awake," he pleaded, a tearless sob ripping from his torn chest.

I whimpered, shifting slightly so I could be closer to him. My vision was black now, and my consciousness was fading quickly. The last thing I heard was him promising he would be with me, and begging me to stay alive.


	29. Awakening

A train had fallen on me. That was the only way to describe what I was feeling now. There was heavy pressure over my entire body, particularly around my chest and sides, both of which were stinging badly. My legs and arms were stiff and sore. Whatever I had experienced after Edward's accidental attack on me, this was ten times worse. My throat was on fire, both inside and out. I swallowed dry.

"Thank God you're awake."

My eyes flew open. I was in darkness, and Edward was sitting beside me on my bed, looking very distressed. I felt his cool hand on my cheek, which soothed the burning, a little.

"Thirsty," I croaked, wincing as the words stung at my throat.

In a matter of two seconds, he had vanished, only to reappear with a full glass of water. With his help, I drank it all. When I was satisfied, I studied his face, and he looked thirstier than I was. His eyes were coal black, and the purple shadows under his eyes were prominent.

I swallowed and spoke in a raspy voice. "How long…has it been?"

"Four days," he answered grimly.

I blinked. "You haven't hunted—"

"In a little over two weeks," he replied. "But that doesn't matter. All that matters is that you're alive."

"Are you alright?" I panted, reaching out to touch the place where his chest had been torn into.

"Shh," he told me, catching my hand gently and planting a kiss there. "I'm fine. Go back to sleep."

I shook my head. "I'm…not tired."

He sighed, carefully laying my hand down by my side again, but never letting go. "I suppose you won't sleep until I explain some things."

I shook my head, and he took it as a confirmation.

"Where's Jacob?" I whispered, because speaking aloud hurt my throat too much.

"He's alright. He's still healing, but he's back home. He's been checking on you quite often."

"How…how long have you been here?"

"I carried you back home after…the attack," he said, wincing slightly at the memory, "and I've stayed with you until now."

"Oh, Edward…you need to hunt. Surely you're thirsty?"

He shrugged. "Like I said, it doesn't matter."

I sighed, shallowly, because anything deeper would hurt my chest. "Your chest."

"I healed a lot faster than you," he told me, "but you received the worse of the attacks. The red-haired male is dead, and we burned the rest of them."

"The others?"

"Well enough. Carlisle was attacked forcefully enough to do some decent damage, but he's alright now."

I nodded very slightly. "And…Charlie?"

"Furious."

I sighed. I knew that one was coming.

"When he saw what happened to you," Edward told me, "he swore that you would be grounded until you were thirty-one. And…"

"What?" I prompted him, though I dreaded to know what big trouble I was in.

"He…said that you were forbidden from seeing the others anymore."

Anger flared inside my chest. This was not anyone's fault but my own; if I had been more careful, Charlie would have had no reason to see that I'd even left the house.

I winced again; my anger had caused me to start panting, which fired up another wave of pain.

"Bella," Edward said exasperatedly, "_please _try to calm down. I really don't want to lose you."

His voice scared me. I'd never heard him sound so…hopeless.

"I'm right here," I told him quietly, stroking his hand reassuringly. "You won't lose me."

"None of this would have happened if I hadn't gotten that volatile redhead off you sooner."

"Edward," I sighed, "you're being ridiculous. This isn't your fault."

He didn't argue further, but I could tell that I hadn't convinced him. I tugged on his hand, so he leaned over and I gave him a gentle kiss. By the way he responded, it was apparent that he wanted to go further, but was afraid of hurting me. So he pulled back, sighed, and kissed my hand again.

"I think you should sleep now," he said, gently but full of authority. Giving up, I sighed and closed my eyes.

I felt a light pressure as he lay down beside me, humming, and it sounded like he was trying to calm himself down as much as me. Very carefully, so as not to spark another wave of pain, I shifted closer to him, and fell into a deep sleep.


	30. Epilogue

"Jake, I can't breathe," came my muffled voice from the depths of Jacob's russet arms.

"Oh yeah, sorry," he grinned, letting me go.

It had been three weeks since my recovery, and Charlie had long since let up on my banishment from the pack. That's just how he was—soft. It hurt him to see me so miserable, unable to talk to any of my brothers. But he was still quite upset about me running off and getting myself hurt again, and still amazed at how quickly I had recovered.

Edward was so overbearingly protective these days that I had to remind him, almost on a daily basis, that I was a werewolf and perfectly capable of taking care of myself.

"Not against six vampires, you aren't," he would shoot back.

Today I was sitting at Jacob's house with the others. Emily was sitting next to Sam, whose arm was around her, and Paul, Jared and Embry were sitting in random chairs they'd pulled up. My only regret was that Edward wasn't here with me, but the boys still didn't approve of him being around, so we had to settle for meeting up when they weren't there. Jacob had his arms wrapped around me like a big brother would, and quite frequently I would have to remind him that breathing was essential and he'd loosen his hold a little.

"You know, after all that's happened," I said after awhile, "going to school seems so trivial."

"Only one more week of summer," replied Jared glumly, flicking something off the edge of his chair.

"Yeah, no more nighttime running," sighed Paul.

"Unless we get more leeches," put in Embry. "Sorry, Bella," he added, as I had shot him a dirty look. I'd never approved of their childish little vampire names, anyway.

"Hey, we can still run on the weekends," Sam said.

Paul stretched and yawned. "Hey, Jake, can I take a look at your bike?" he asked, going over to the window and eyeing the sleek black motorcycle that was parked out in Sam's driveway.

"Yeah…" Jacob answered hesitantly. "But if you even scratch it—"

"Nah, I'll be careful," Paul said. There was a delighted gleam in his eyes as he headed out the front door.

"You shouldn't have done that," Embry said to Jacob. "You know how excited Paul can get."

Jacob shrugged, but I could clearly see the worry in his eyes.

"So, who wants the cookies that I made?" Emily piped up.

"Cookies? What are we, five?" Jared said, but almost simultaneously, Embry barked out, "Yes!"

Jacob and I snickered as Embry darted into the kitchen, and it wasn't long before Jared finally gave up and went to join him.

"Wow," Jacob sighed. "It's been a pretty chaotic few weeks, huh?"

"No kidding," I agreed fervently.

"But it makes life more fun, don't you think?"

I chuckled. "Oh yeah, battling sadistic vampires intent on killing every one of us so they can kill _more _people in Forks? Loads of fun."

"Aww, c'mon, you enjoyed it," Jacob said, winking.

"Can't wait to do it again."

He laughed. "Let's go get some cookies, before they suck them all down," he suggested.

I hopped up. "Okay."

Sure enough, by the time we'd reached the kitchen, nearly all the cookies were gone. "_Pigs_," Jacob muttered, disgusted.

"Wull wewur hngry," Jared muttered through an enormous mouthful of food.

"Says the guy who didn't even _want _them in the first place," Embry said, after swallowing his own mouthful.

"Yeah, well…"

At that moment, there was an enormous _CRASH _from outside. Jacob dropped the two cookies he had in his hand (one being half-eaten) and muttered, almost indecipherably, "My bike…"

He flashed from the room, and we all waited expectantly as we heard the front door open and slam again. And then…

"PAUL, WHAT DID YOU DO TO MY BIKE?!"

…………………………

Ha, what _did _Paul do to his bike? Well, you have to wait to find out, because that's the end of this story! Tune in next time for the sequel-with-the-name-I'm-not-sure-of-yet. I really hope you enjoyed this story and thank you to all its avid readers! Does a happy dance


	31. Update

A thousand apologies!!!

Lol, I don't even know if anyone is still checking this story for updates…if you are…I AM VERY SORRY!

Life took over. I've been so busy with school, school, school, and yet more school. And I honestly probably will not update with a sequel. Twilight has lost some of its flare for me (it's been mostly replaced by the arrival of Deathly Hallows, actually).

Again…sorry!!!


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